Efforts to Eliminate Period Poverty

Efforts to Eliminate Period Poverty

Start of the Project to Eliminate Period Poverty

We strongly agreed with Arakawa Ward's efforts to address "period poverty," and we concluded an agreement with Arakawa Ward regarding comprehensive cooperation in November, 2021. Then, we sought to find a way to provide more comprehensive and sustainable support for "period poverty" in Japan as a whole and we started this project.

What is Period Poverty?

Period poverty refers to the inability to access sanitary products due to economic circumstances and lack of social understanding of menstruation. People are unable to purchase sanitary products because the economic poverty is becoming more severe with the COVID-19 crisis, and low social recognition that menstruation is less talked in public. For example, in single-father families, there are cases where daughters are unable to purchase sanitary products because their fathers lack knowledge about menstruation.
It is necessary to increase the social recognition of the issue and provide financial support to solve this problem. In other words, a wide range of organizations and individuals must work together to address this issue. In many other countries, various initiatives are under way, such as the tax exemption of sanitary products and the installation of sanitary napkins in schools and public restrooms. In Japan, the issue has been widely covered in the media since 2021, and efforts to distribute sanitary products free of charge based on donations and emergency stockpiles have just begun at municipalities offices across the country.

What We can Do - Helping those in need by building a support system between companies and local municipalities

We will work with our customers including 37,990 private companies and 1,267 local municipalities (cities, wards, towns, and villages) on the project. We collect the donations of sanitary products from company sponsors and send to local municipalities or social welfare councils. Through participation in this project, we will create opportunities for companies to engage in activities related to S (Society) among the required ESG initiatives, and build coexisting relationships with the regions we support.

period-poverty

Achievement *as of the end of September, 2023

FY21

FY22

Donation amount (accumulated)

300 thou.yen

5,054 thou.yen

Number of units donated

1

18

Number of donation packs

2,376

34,416

Municipality to receive donation*

1

62

*Cities, wards, social welfare councils, boards of education, etc.

Efforts to Eliminate Period Poverty Reaction of Municipality to receive donation (JPN)