NSYSU provides free sanitary napkins in toilets to create gender-friendly environment
2022-01-28
(Report by student journalist) To create a gender-friendly environment on campus, two societies at National Sun Yat-sen University – Gender Friendly Society and Takao Free jointly proposed the installation of pink boxes with sanitary napkins in the toilets. The proposal was submitted by student representatives and was successfully passed during NSYSU Executive Meeting. Under the coordination of the Office of General Affairs and the Office of Student Affairs, pink boxes with sanitary pads have already been installed in the toilets of the College of Management, Administration Building, Student Activity Center, and Gymnasium for the students and faculty to use.
“NSYSU is probably the first university in Taiwan that had administrative unit undertaking measures to create a period-friendly campus!” A member of Takao Free, a first-year master student of the Department of Information Management Pin-Hsuan Ho said that this proposal for the establishment of this gender-friendly measure was supported by students and faculty of all genders and was financed by the University’s budget. According to NSYSU, sanitary pads are available in both accessible toilets and all-gender toilets. At present, the Office of General Affairs has installed boxes with sanitary pads on the walls next to the washbasins. If the box is empty, the users are asked to contact the person in charge to refill it. Free sanitary napkins in the College of Marine Sciences and the College of Liberal Arts are placed in special vendor machines to keep them away from humidity, as both colleges are located in a humid area at the foot of the mountain.
Pin-Hsuan Ho recalls that the initial motivation for the proposal was a talk held by NSYSU Gender Equity Education Committee, for which Little Red Hood – an organization dedicated to promoting menstrual equity for a long time – was invited. It was then that the participants started thinking, “If we have toilet paper in the bathrooms, why don’t we have free sanitary napkins as well?” Last year, with the support of the Gender Equity Education Committee, the Gender Friendly and Takao Free societies collaborated in organizing a flash event on menstrual equity in the corridor of the colleges of Science and Engineering to promote the issue of menstrual products, collect students’ opinions and petition signatures, to later put forward the proposal concerning the installation of pink boxes during the Academic Affairs Meeting, which ultimately was passed.
A member of Gender Friendly, a senior of the Department of Sociology Tzu-Ling Wang commented on the result, saying that she originally thought that the project would be implemented only the next semester and she did not expect to see the pink boxes in less than two months. She laughed and said: “This democratic, systematic proposal was implemented exactly as I expected!” In the future, society will continue to organize related activities, such as a DIY cloth sanitary napkin workshop, hoping for more people to gain an understanding of gender-friendly issues.
(Report by student journalist) To create a gender-friendly environment on campus, two societies at National Sun Yat-sen University – Gender Friendly Society and Takao Free jointly proposed the installation of pink boxes with sanitary napkins in the toilets. The proposal was submitted by student representatives and was successfully passed during NSYSU Executive Meeting. Under the coordination of the Office of General Affairs and the Office of Student Affairs, pink boxes with sanitary pads have already been installed in the toilets of the College of Management, Administration Building, Student Activity Center, and Gymnasium for the students and faculty to use.
“NSYSU is probably the first university in Taiwan that had administrative unit undertaking measures to create a period-friendly campus!” A member of Takao Free, a first-year master student of the Department of Information Management Pin-Hsuan Ho said that this proposal for the establishment of this gender-friendly measure was supported by students and faculty of all genders and was financed by the University’s budget. According to NSYSU, sanitary pads are available in both accessible toilets and all-gender toilets. At present, the Office of General Affairs has installed boxes with sanitary pads on the walls next to the washbasins. If the box is empty, the users are asked to contact the person in charge to refill it. Free sanitary napkins in the College of Marine Sciences and the College of Liberal Arts are placed in special vendor machines to keep them away from humidity, as both colleges are located in a humid area at the foot of the mountain.
Pin-Hsuan Ho recalls that the initial motivation for the proposal was a talk held by NSYSU Gender Equity Education Committee, for which Little Red Hood – an organization dedicated to promoting menstrual equity for a long time – was invited. It was then that the participants started thinking, “If we have toilet paper in the bathrooms, why don’t we have free sanitary napkins as well?” Last year, with the support of the Gender Equity Education Committee, the Gender Friendly and Takao Free societies collaborated in organizing a flash event on menstrual equity in the corridor of the colleges of Science and Engineering to promote the issue of menstrual products, collect students’ opinions and petition signatures, to later put forward the proposal concerning the installation of pink boxes during the Academic Affairs Meeting, which ultimately was passed.
A member of Gender Friendly, a senior of the Department of Sociology Tzu-Ling Wang commented on the result, saying that she originally thought that the project would be implemented only the next semester and she did not expect to see the pink boxes in less than two months. She laughed and said: “This democratic, systematic proposal was implemented exactly as I expected!” In the future, society will continue to organize related activities, such as a DIY cloth sanitary napkin workshop, hoping for more people to gain an understanding of gender-friendly issues.
Click Num:
Share