2023-12-19 21:32:43
Published19. December 2023, 22:32
Hygienic protection at school: “Will students have to bring their own PQ to the toilets?”
The Zurich Grand Council refused, following a colorful debate, to provide free menstrual hygiene products in schools. In French-speaking Switzerland, however, it comes naturally.
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The Green Benjamin Walder did not follow the arguments of the right and sought to show it through the absurd.
Zurich Grand Council/Tages-Anzeiger
A tampon and a roll of toilet paper were brandished Monday at the Grand Council of the canton of Zurich by two elected officials during a debate. The theme: the provision of menstrual hygiene protection for schoolgirls. But while in our part of the country the measure has been widely introduced (read box), on the German-speaking side, the resistance was such that the idea was rejected in the final vote, as the “Tages-Anzeiger” recounts.
“You present women as imbeciles who do not know how to manage their periods themselves,” criticized the SVP Astrid Furrer, her stamp brandished in the air and who drew the argument of equality. “With this special treatment of schoolgirls, you are once morest equality. Unless you also want to finance shaving utensils or deodorants for the boys? she asked the nominator.
Cheaper than hand towels
The latter, the Green Benjamin Walder, was stung. He took out a roll of PQ and showed it to the audience. His argument: If it’s up to the individual to pay for hygiene items, then why not require students to bring their own toilet paper or soap? But for a majority of the cantonal parliament, it is not up to the community to assume these costs.
In the canton of Vaud, a pioneer in this area, experience has shown that the measure certainly costs more than toilet paper, but less than hand towels. “In the Vaud experience, the budget amounts to 4.50 francs per menstruating girl per year,” notes Véronique Berseth, departmental delegate for the protection of the school climate and responsible for this project.
Everywhere in French-speaking Switzerland
If the domain of the intimate is taken with more tweezers by the German-speaking political world, this is less the case in French-speaking Switzerland. All French-speaking cantons are in the process of introducing the measure. In the canton of Vaud, “it was decided that all gymnasiums and vocational schools will be equipped with dispensers and hygienic protection” following the success of pilot projects. For compulsory schooling, most municipalities have taken the plunge. The measure is welcomed by those concerned and “monitoring of the project indicates that around 5% of menstruating students have financial difficulties in obtaining this post-compulsory material”, according to Véronique Berseth.
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