Why do they offer free wipes and tampons in major stadiums? | The “On the Ball” campaign.

An image of the Emirates Stadium, where London’s Arsenal play their matches, went viral on social media this weekend. “We don’t think you need to pay for these items. Please bring what you need”said a sign in the women’s bathroom, under which a container with tampons and wipes.

This campaign is part of the campaign “On the Ball”which seeks to access feminine hygiene products for female football fans in the United Kingdom.

The initiative was born in Glasgow, Scotland, six years ago when Orlaith Duffy, Erin Slaven and Michaela McKinley came together to make the role of followers obvious in this sport, requiring these products to be easily accessible on the courts.

“People don’t go around paying for rolls of toilet paper or soap“Slaven said on the BBC at the time they launched the campaign. “One of the complaints we face is that people say if you can afford a ticket, you can afford a tampon. “It’s very easy to refuse, because at Celtic many tickets are given to charities, so not many pay for entry or transport, why would they pay ​​​​​​​for the hygiene products, he said.

Celtic Scotsman was the first person to listen to them and twenty clubs followed. he is Liverpool, el Brighton & Hove Albion, Huddersfield Town and Dundee United are some of the clubs that have joined the campaign, which aims that feminine intimate hygiene products should be accessible at zero cost, that this topic should not be taboo and that conversation should about menstruation to create so that the social view changes.

According to a British study, a woman can spend around 4,800 pounds ($6,200) on these products throughout her life, and a 2017 study revealed that 10% of women and girls cannot afford these products, in addition to the that was 12% of them. be improvised when they have time.

“I think at first, people were thinking ‘who are these girls?’ They thought we didn’t care about Celtic, that we were just crazy feminists with our own agenda. There was this medieval mindset that thought football was a man’s sport and there was no place for us. “It’s a largely male-dominated sport and thirty years ago, it would have been unthinkable to talk about menstruation,” Slaven said.

The campaign was active between 2018 and 2021 but several clubs have decided to keep their products free, as well as others like Arsenal have recently decided to join him.