Vulva and uterine earrings in the fight against period poverty
New in our range of fair trade jewellery : silver anatomical earrings with vulvas and wombs ! The full proceeds of these earrings go to BruZelle vzw, an organization that fights against menstrual vulnerability, or period poverty.
What is period poverty?
Hygienic products such as sanitary napkins and tampons are too expensive for many people to bear. The lack of menstrual products is a source of embarrassment, causes children to miss school during their period and adults to cut themselves off from work or social activities. The mental impact of not being able to buy menstrual products is great. The figures in Flanders are also not very encouraging, as a survey conducted by Caritas last year showed.
What does BruZelle do?
BruZelle distributes collection boxes for sanitary towels in schools, cultural centers, shops and pharmacies. People can then deposit unused, pre-packaged sanitary napkins and fabric storage bags in this. They also sew storage bags to discreetly hand over the sanitary napkin to the beneficiaries and organize workshops to make washable sanitary napkins themselves.
Of course, this is only a temporary solution. That is why the BruZelle team also actively participates in seminars, debates, conferences, festivals, studies and interviews. They make the theme of menstrual vulnerability more widely known and they exchange ideas and experiences in order to arrive at concrete solutions. BruZelle therefore needs a budget, both for its operation and for when the demand for menstrual products exceeds the supply.
Distribution
BruZelle works together with partners in the field such as OCMWs, CAWs, centers for day and night shelters for homeless women, food banks, mother houses, university social grocers and NGOs working in refugee camps and squats.
In addition, the BruZelle team also takes to the streets to distribute the sachets of sanitary napkins to people they meet and the sachets can also be picked up at BruZelle's Brussels office.
Our penny in the pocket
All proceeds from the sale of our new anatomical vulva and uterine earrings will go to Bruzelle. Update: from 26/09/2022, 50% of the proceeds will go to Bruzelle vzw.
How can you still help
- You can donate the following at a collection point in your area (the largest offer is in the region around Brussels):
- prepackaged sanitary napkin
- clean fabric from which bags are made
- ready-to-use bags
- Turn your work/sports association/event into a collection point .
- Make a donation (more info via their website ).
More information about how they work can be found on the BruZelle website.
You can also find more information about this theme in this blog post from research project Isala.
Other campaigns to raise awareness about menstruation
One of our favorite makers, Simone Giertz, is also committed to raising awareness about menstruation in her own playful way. She made a menstrual machine and a menstrual cramp machine:
