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Mexico City’s single-use plastic ban ignores the needs of women

While the city’s environmental efforts are a progressive step towards combatting climate change, women’s groups are concerned that taking plastic applicator tampons off the shelves contributes to ‘menstrual poverty’ for those unable to afford greener alternatives.

On January 1, Mexico City enforced a single-use plastic ban, making it illegal for retailers to stock bags, forks, cups, balloons, straws, and sanitary products made from the material.

This is because the country is home to 126 million people who produce over 6,000 tons of plastic waste annually, most of which sits in landfills for up to 150 years.

While this effort to prevent waste is of course a progressive step forward in the fight against climate change, advocates are arguing that it ignores the needs of women and creates a system in which dignified menstruation becomes a privilege, not a right.

The ban, which prohibits the sale of tampons until their plastic applicators are replaced by more environmentally friendly alternatives, has left menstruating citizens in uproar, scrambling to find the monthly necessity before it completely disappears off the shelves.

‘This is punishing women,’ student Chiara Gómez told the Financial Times in response. ‘I didn’t know they were going to do this – a lot of people depend on them.’

Gómez is just one of Mexico City’s five million female residents who were taken by surprise when, seemingly overnight, the majority of stocked tampons were removed from stores across the city, deemed ‘non-essential’ by the government.

Spearheading the ban is climate change scientist and the city’s first-ever female mayor, Claudia Sheinbaum, who continues to stand by her decision, calling it a key part of the green agenda she has pursued since taking office in 2018.

She has not, however, acknowledged that the ban creates a phenomenon of ‘menstrual poverty’ whereby those without the means to pay for ‘greener’ products must go without.

This is in a country where the Coronavirus pandemic has pushed an estimated 10 million more people into poverty and in a city where 260,000 homes don’t have access to clean, running water.

Latin America is the region hit hardest by the Covid-19 crisis. Chart showing annual change in gross domestic product (%) across emerging markets

The move could be detrimental for those with lower incomes, which is worrying because school and work absenteeism will increase dramatically as a result.

Unfortunately, rather than striving to ensure equity among these women, Sheinbaum has instead placed the onus on manufacturers to make them more affordable.

‘It seems to us that it is part of the commitments that entrepreneurs should assume,’ she said.

Image: Women's sanitary products are seen on the shelves inside a supermarket in Mexico City

Now, following an outcry on social media and a petition from women’s groups, over 30 organisations have filed an official complaint with the city’s anti-discrimination body (known by its Spanish initials Copred), accusing the administration of violating women’s rights.

‘A measure that might sound very progressive and well-intentioned with an environmental commitment is neglecting the needs of women,’ activist Sally Santiago told Reuters.

‘These legal reforms had no gender perspective that would have identified the specific and disproportionate effect on girls, adolescents, women and others who menstruate, and provided a more adequate solution to us and to the environment that puts human rights front of stage.’

Sainsbury's removes plastic applicators from tampons

One of the main points addressed within the report is that the government ought to have taken a more gradual approach before imposing the ban, making sure tampons with non-plastic applicators were available, at an accessible price, before withdrawing them.

It’s yet to be seen how Mexico City’s government will respond to the complaint, but women’s groups are urging the world to ‘rally behind the cause’ in the meantime ‘for the sake of the planet’ because, ultimately, ‘it’s not about stopping having the products we need, it’s about making better choices.’

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