Steal From Women, Give to Women: The UK's Bloody Stupid Tampon Tax

The majority of women on planet earth shed their uterine lining regularly, making health products related to menstruation an obvious, basic human right. But while other products that sustain life are exempt from tax in the United Kingdom, there is a 5 percent charge on tampons. Many demand that tax end. Today, after an October vote to bring this issue to European Parliament was defeated, the Treasury announced that £15 million of tampon tax revenue will be used to fund women's charity organizations.

A petition was started in 2014 to end the taxation of women's health by UK native Laura Coryton. It aims to eliminate the tax, and it's procured more than a quarter million signatures. "Tax allocations should expose the needs of society as a whole," Coryton writes, "and the needs of those who menstruate as well as those who don't."

The taxation of tampons in the United Kingdom is controversial. Opponents cite the absurdity and blatant sexism of taxing women's health as luxury. Prime Minister David Cameron has stated that he hopes to put an end to it, but that it may be challenging to do so. "While we can live without flying our own private helicopters, we cannot live without the public participation of those who menstruate, which is dependent upon the accessibility of sanitary products."

Celia Pool is the co-founder of Sanitary Owl, an organization in the UK that aims to provide women with affordable, tax-free, sanitary protection. As a mother of two small children, this issue is both personal and political for her. She and her team aim to put an end to a tired, unjust law and the stigma around women's health and bodies. "We want to normalize this taboo subject, and focus effort on positive messaging for teenagers on menstruation," she told Broadly in an email.

Pool echoed several statements in Coryton's petition, explaining, "After the UK joined the Common Market in 1973, a 17.5 percent sanitary tax was introduced and sanitary products were classified as 'non-essential, luxury' items." That rate dropped to 5 percent in 2001, but advocates feel any amount of tax on women's bodies is offensive.

A spokesperson for the European Commission attempted to put the tax in perspective, telling Politico, "Member states may not apply a zero [tax] rate to a product unless all other member states agree. Zero rates are an exception and run against generally accepted VAT principles. Most member states tax sanitary products like tampons at around 20 percent or more." But, as critics of the tax argue, just because 5 is smaller than 20 doesn't mean it is acceptable. Even if zero percent rates are an exception, there are plenty or products and services other than tampons that are exempt from taxation.

Advocates feel that taking tax money collected from women and allocating those funds to women's charities is a crude stop gap that fails to address the real issue while literally causing women to pay for their own aid. "Anyone who has had a period would tell you that 'non-essential' and 'luxury' are not the terms they would use to describe tampons," Pool stated. "Any additional money to women's health is great but come on, don't just take the easy way out. It takes a lot more guts to stand up to the European Parliament and say that this tax is not right. We are not the only country to do this; let's lead by example."

In March of this year, the Huffington Post reported that British women spend more than £18,000 on sanitary products over the course of their lives. Expense and accessibility are certainly part of the problem, but there are even broader implications: The fact that certain items, like helicopters, are exempt from taxation but tampons are not signifies that sexist cultural beliefs have pervaded the law. "This tax is an example of an outdated view that has no place in modern society," Pool explained. "Let's not keep teaching new generations that periods are a luxury for women."

"I don't want my daughter growing up in a world where she feels marginalized because she gets her period," she said.