Food or period products. Groceries or tampons.
These are choices no one should have to make. And yet, more than 765,000 people in the Netherlands — one of the wealthiest countries in the world — still struggle to afford the menstrual products they need.
This is period poverty in 2025.
Period poverty is students skipping school because they don’t have enough pads. It is parents missing work because they can’t afford all the needed supplies. It is people resorting to using inefficient and risky alternatives such as toilet paper, socks, or even cut-up diapers, because they cannot afford the basics.
While people struggle in silence, with impacts on their health, opportunities and across their lives as a whole, the government fails to adequately address the issue, and social media platforms like Meta suppress it, actively reducing the visibility of posts that mention “tampons” “pads” or “period products” by classifying them as “sexual content.”
But we refuse to stay silent.
This International Women’s Day, in partnership with video production agency Casual Films Amsterdam, we are launching a new video to break the silence around period poverty in the Netherlands. This short but powerful film, which highlights some of the findings from our national 2024 research, makes one thing clear: no matter where we live in the Netherlands, none of us should have to choose between essentials.
Menstrual products are a basic need, not a luxury.
Here’s how you can help make a difference:
• Watch and share this video. By spreading this video, we spread awareness together, despite efforts to suppress us.
• Take action. Bring this issue up at work, in schools, in government. Whether it’s your business or school providing free products, demand solutions for all.
• Donate. Your financial support is vital, going directly and fully toward free period products for those most in need.
The world will not change on its own. Let’s make necessary noise—and bring about real change.
Our warmest gratitude to Executive Producer Tarryn Paul and the terrific team of brand and business video experts at Casual Films Amsterdam, gifted voiceover artist Margo van de Linde and the folks at Rouze who kindly provided studio space for recording. It was an absolute pleasure working with them. Their generous support and timely collaboration made it possible to create this special video and bring greater visibility to period poverty, as part of Neighborhood Feminists’ 2025 International Women’s Day actions.
