#LivreParaMenstruar
BRAZIL
Brazilian politicians and women’s rights groups expressed outrage over a decision by President Jair Bolsonaro this week to veto a bill that would provide free pads and tampons to disadvantaged women and girls, the Guardian reported.
The bill would have benefited 5.6 million women, including homeless females, prisoners and teenage girls at state schools. It was part of a bigger package of laws aimed at promoting menstrual health in a country where period poverty is estimated to keep one in four girls out of school.
Bolsonaro said that parts of the bill were “against public interest” and that giving free sanitary products to poor women would “favor a certain group.”
Federal Deputy Tabata Amaral admonished the president for his decision, saying that Bolsonaro was showing his “contempt for the dignity of vulnerable women” by vetoing the plan. She said she would work to overturn the veto.
Other politicians and activists also criticized the veto, while many social media users expressed their outrage using the hashtag #LivreParaMenstruar – meaning “free to menstruate” in Portuguese.
Amaral said that Bolsonaro’s move means the health ministry will have to pay for the treatment and surgeries resulting from complications of the use of towels and old clothing by women unable to afford tampons and pads.
In May, a report issued by the United Nations found that more than 700,000 girls in the country do not have access to a bathroom, while about four million lack adequate hygiene facilities at school.
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