One in five women has already been confronted with menstrual insecurity in France. This is the observation made by the Elementary Rules association during a study in collaboration with OpinonWay. The latter carried out a barometer of menstrual precariousness in France, the results of which are unveiled this Friday, May 28, 2021 on the occasion of World Menstrual Hygiene Day.
20% of women have already been confronted with menstrual insecurity
On the occasion of World Menstrual Hygiene Day, the Elementary Rules association conducted in collaboration with OpinionWay, the very first independent survey on menstrual insecurity in France. The study conducted online from April 20 to 26, 2021 focused on a sample of 1,001 people from the French population aged 18 and over. It emerges that two out of ten women (20%) have already been confronted with menstrual insecurity, namely the difficulty or impossibility of obtaining personal hygiene protection and living their periods with dignity. Among them, 11% experienced it personally and 10% said they had already known someone close to them in this situation.
57% of French people have never received any formal education about menstruation
If new measures have been put in place recently (such as the free provision of protection in prison, in universities, in many schools, etc.), menstruation still remains, despite everything, a taboo subject in society. The barometer indicates that 70% of those questioned have already heard of menstrual insecurity, but only nearly half of those polled (53%) do not know precisely what it is. For 57% of respondents, rules are a taboo subject in society. As many participants who declared that they had not received any formal education about the rules. Despite 72% who believe that it is not taboo in the family, at least 47% of respondents have not heard of menstruation before puberty.
33% of French people have been confronted with absenteeism at work because of the rules
According to the survey conducted for the Elementary Rules association, the business world is an unfavorable ecosystem for combating menstrual insecurity. In fact, 68% of participants believe that rules are a taboo subject in the workplace. However, periods are not without consequences on professional life since the report indicates that more than 2 in 10 women have already missed work because of their period and more than a quarter of women know someone close to them. who this happened. This leads 73% of respondents to be in favor of the provision of free intimate hygiene protection in companies.
