Question 13612 — women

Summary

Ms. Mereana Reid Arbelot draws the attention of the Minister of Health, Families, Autonomy and Disabled People to the effective provision of menstrual protection. The day after the International Day of Struggle for Women's Rights, many women still face menstrual poverty in France. This is defined as the impossibility of obtaining, in sufficient quantity, protection periodic during her period. Far from being a marginal phenomenon, menstrual poverty today affects nearly 4 million menstruating people in the country. Its consequences are serious: if it primarily affects women in very precarious situations, it also concerns mothers, students and even young working people. It thus directly affects their living conditions, their health and their dignity. The main cause of this precariousness lies in its financial impact. To date, no comprehensive official study has been conducted to accurately assess the overall cost borne by menstruating people. However, several organizations have attempted to estimate its extent. According to the Family Allowance Fund, the average cost of period-related expenses amounts to nearly 150 euros per year, or around 5,850 euros at course of a woman's life. This amount only includes the costs relating to the purchase of hygienic protection. Every month, women are therefore forced to assume an additional expense that men do not have to bear, contributing to accentuate the economic inequalities between women and men, which are nevertheless regularly denounced. Small or large sum, that is not the question: women simply assume, once in addition, a financial burden greater than that of their male counterparts. Furthermore, discussing menstrual poverty also implies taking into account all expenses linked to gynecological health: specialist consultations, contraception which is sometimes not reimbursed, or even treatments against menstrual pain for which coverage remains partial. These new fees can sometimes bring the total amount to several thousand additional euros over a lifetime. The lack of access to appropriate protection also exposes the people concerned to numerous risks: health problems, dropping out of school or sports, social withdrawal and attack on dignity. In a country like France, in 2026, women should no longer have to wonder if they will be able to access menstrual protection or benefit from monitoring adapted gynecological. Obviously aware of this reality, the Government announced, three years ago, the reimbursement of reusable periodic protection for young people under 26 and the most vulnerable people. This announcement resulted in a vote and inclusion in the social security financing law for 2024, then in commitments reiterated several times by successive ministers. Yet, three years later, no effective implementation has occurred. Despite the announcements, the measure remained a dead letter, even though the preparatory work, specifications and implementing decree, have already been finalized. Equality, health and dignity can no longer wait. Also, she asks him when the Government intends to issue the order and decree allowing the effective and rapid implementation of the reimbursement of reusable periodic protection, as adopted in the social security financing law for 2024.

Machine translation from French. The official text remains authoritative.

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1. 17 March 2026

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• Mereana Reid Arbelot · auteur

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