Charity Action Aid has enlisted 5 top female artists to help fight period poverty... one T-shirt at a time
In 2019, it’s hard to believe that women are still fighting for the rights and control over their own bodies.
Whilst the re-introduction of severe abortion laws in Alabama and Georgia have shocked the world, the fight for the abolition of such laws is ever more apparent in Northern Ireland. Looking further afield, the poverty and inequality that women face is even more surprising, with period poverty being a key issue .
A common assumption is that periods aren’t a big deal; it’s just something that women deal with each month, right? Wrong. According to ActionAid UK, “Period poverty is a global issue affecting women and girls who don’t have access to safe, hygienic sanitary products, or who are unable to manage their periods with dignity, due to community stigma and sanction.”
Statistics show that in Africa, one in ten girls miss school as they don’t have access to sanitary products or because there aren’t safe toilets. Twelve per cent of women in India can’t afford sanitary products, and fifty per cent of schoolgirls don’t have access to period products, in Kenya alone. Even in the UK, it’s reported that over a quarter of women and girls have had to miss work or school due to not being able to afford sanitary products. Alarming, we know.
Figures like these are why we’re evermore thankful for charities such as ActionAid, who work with women and girls all over the world living in poverty, and they will not stop until they have changed lives for good.
In aid of World Menstrual Hygiene Day last week, and as a part of their ongoing #MyBodyIsMine campaign, ActionAid collaborated with five leading British female artists to create limited edition t-shirts. The pieces designed by Laura Callaghan, Poppy Chancellor, Patternity, Clio Peppiatt and Ruby Taylor all reflect their interpretation of the concept #MyBodyIsMine and are on sale now from Everpress.
Speaking of their T-shirt design, creative collective Patternity said, “The spiral represents the cyclical nature of life, and as a circle, it’s a symbol of unity. It is also connected to the heart and the womb, and relates to the energies that come from these parts of the body.”
With lots of bold imagery across the five designs to inspire female empowerment, the t-shirts are perfect to show off your inner feminist, whilst supporting a worthy cause and with festival season just around the corner , what better opportunity to grab a new garment! With many already getting involved, including activist and law-changer Gina Martin, you better purchase yours quickly.
On sale for another week, the T-shirts are priced at £22. Each T-shirt sold will help to shine a spotlight on violence against women and girls and will get ActionAid one step closer to helping women and girls reclaim the rights to their bodies.
Buy T-shirts here , and find out more about ActionAid and what they do by going to actionaid.org.uk .