TRANSPORT – An initiative that does not pass. Faced with the problem of the lack of toilets on its freight trains, the SNCF decided to launch a six-month experiment by offering three menstrual panties to some drivers. The latter were offended, says the Parisian this Saturday, May 14.
The project was launched by the company’s “mixed rail” department, in charge of equality between women and men. In mid-April, an email was sent to certain people detailing the idea of “female driving staff”. To convince three people to participate in the experiment, the message highlights the advantages of menstrual panties: ecological, reassuring, but also practical since they can “keep several hours”.
As explained by Parisian, the email, initially sent to only a few people, quickly went around the employees. The daily was able to speak to some women, including a cégétiste who protested: “We have been fighting for twenty years for decent working conditions, in particular access to reserved toilets and sufficient break times. And the box gives us this kind of answer: put on your panties and you keep them on for 8 hours!”
The vast majority of men at SNCF
“The demand for access to toilets dates back to the arrival of women in these professions. The subject has been on the table for twenty years. And still nothing, it’s very shocking! And then they say they want to feminize the trades”, denounces another railway girl.
It must be said that the number of women remains today still much lower than that of men: 394 drivers once morest 12,530 men. For lack of suitable trains, women are obliged to keep their hygienic products longer than recommended when they have their period, and to do as their male counterparts do to relieve themselves, that is to say between two cars.
This Saturday, May 14 in the morning, following the publication of the article in Parisian, the president of the SNCF Mixité network Anne-Sophie Nomblot regretted “the unfair presentation” made of the experiment. She recalls that interviews were held with the freight drivers and that the rules were one of the topics discussed.
Keeping the tampon on too long, double padding…
“The length of journeys without stops means that freight drivers implement various personal strategies that are not optimal: keep a tampon for longer than the time recommended by the manufacturer, double the towels…”, she describes. Not changing to fall regularly can be dangerous and can cause toxic shock.
That’s why, she continues, “period panties have emerged as an attractive alternative.” Four drivers even responded to the call launched in the mail. They should soon receive the kit of three menstrual panties in organic fabric with clip-on pads.
“It is of course not a question of solving all the problems with these panties, emphasizes Anne-Sophie Nomblot once more. We’ll see if it’s a good idea, a problem can have several solutions.” In parallel with this experiment, the SNCF is trying to find other solutions, and is doing “a map and inventory of the toilets throughout the territory” and is considering “replacing the key locks of the toilets with badge readers ”.
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