Some examples of things that aren't taxed however:

• Edible sugar flowers

• Alcoholic jellies

• Crocodile and kangaroo meat

• Helicopters

• Bingo

• Toffee apples

• Zoo tickets

• Herbal tea

(Sourced from CloserOnline.co.uk)

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Because clearly, none of the things listed above are luxuries, and they're obviously all more essential than menstrual products. 

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That being said, at the start of 2018 Tracey Crouch, the Minister for Sport and Civil Society confirmed that the 15 million pounds made from the latest round of tampon tax would be put back into charities and organisations that worked to improve the wellbeing of women. Charities such as Rape Crisis England and Wales, MIND and Housing Associations. Other charities can apply for some of this money too, but it's a long process that isn't always successful, especially when the charities are relatively small and local. So the question that this creates is - will every woman struggling with period poverty benefit from this money? The answer is no. 

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The easiest and smartest way to help these women is to scrap the tax. In October 2015, MP Jess Phillips spoke about an amendment to tampon tax in the House of Commons. She said: "The fact that we still have this tax is probably in no small part down to the fact that most of the people in this house, and in our sister parliaments all across the EU, don't have wombs." This not only highlights the sexism that surrounds the tampon tax, but also that it's not just an issue faced by women in the UK, but the EU as a whole. 

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Following the words of Jess Phillips and many other women in the public as well as in Parliament, David Cameron announced in March 2016 that there would be an end to the VAT on sanitary products.

 

So what happened?

 

Well, as long as Britain is in the EU, there are regulations that stop us from banning the tax unless our Parliament keeps pushing for it, and pushing for it hard. And as Jess Phillips said, "The reason we must force our government to have this conversation with out European partners is because without force, I fear that the government will be too squeamish to talk about women's periods." So what do we, as people who have periods, have to do?

 

KEEP PUSHING. 

 

If you see a petition to end tampon tax, have it brought up again in the House of Commons or to raise the issue again with the Government, sign it. It takes seconds to make a change that will help for a lifetime. 

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"Without women in this place, I am certain that this issue would never have been raised...doing nothing achieves nothing." - Jess Phillips MP

 

Help ban the tampon tax in other places! Sign the petitions below!

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California: https://www.change.org/p/california-tampon-tax-we-want-you-out

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New Jersey: https://www.change.org/p/new-jersey-governor-end-the-tampon-tax-and-raise-awareness

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