When Should A Divorce Decree Be Modified?
Imagine this: You've gone through the back-and-forth negotiations, compromises and adjustments to finalize your divorce. After all the hard work you've put in, it appears that you now have a decree that is amenable to both you and your spouse, one that makes clear-cut provisions for the support and custody/visitation of your children. The order is signed by the judge, and you are now officially divorced.
Time marches on, and things go according to plan for a while. But then your circumstances change. Perhaps you got a promotion or were laid off. Perhaps you have an opportunity for a new job, but in a city far away. The terms of your divorce decree may no longer be workable. What then?
You aren't necessarily without recourse in such a situation. It may be possible to modify the terms of your decree — and we can help. The attorneys at Susan Fuller & Associates, P.C., have decades of combined experience assisting clients in Parker and throughout the Denver metro area with modifications of their divorce decrees. We help people revise provisions pertaining to spousal support, child support, child custody and visitation, and more. To learn more, schedule a free consultation with our firm. We're always ready to help.
It should be noted that these laws and other provisions governing modifications to divorce decrees, legal separation orders and orders dissolving domestic partnerships generally dictate that no changes shall be made regarding child support orders if the result would be a change of less than 10 percent monthly.
One party has suffered a job loss or substantial decrease in pay.
One party has obtained employment at a significantly higher income than his or her previous employment.
A party has engaged in activities or actions that placed a child or children in imminent physical or emotional danger.
A party is not allowing the other party his or her court-ordered parenting time.
A maintenance order has terminated.
A child has emancipated and there are remaining children receiving child support.
One party has discovered that the other failed to disclose assets during the divorce proceedings and now wants to modify the property division agreement to address those additional assets.
Modification of a divorce decree may be necessary for any number of reasons. Taking the proper steps and making the strongest argument is the best way to pursue or defend against modifications to your decree. When you have questions about seeking a change to your Colorado divorce order or defending against a requested change, contact an experienced family lawyer at the office of Susan Fuller & Associates, P.C.
You can call us at 303-800-0474, or reach us online. We're here to answer your questions and address your concerns.


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Current (https://current.org/2012/03/aero-files-countersuit-to-complaint-from-pbs-wnet-other-broadcasters/)
Aero files countersuit to complaint from PBS, WNET, other broadcasters
Aereo, an new online TV service supported by media mogul Barry Diller, has filed a countersuit against PBS, WNET and several other broadcasters who are claiming copyright infringement, according to Reuters. The suit, filed Tuesday (March 20) in U.S. District Court in Manhattan, also includes plaintiffs Fox, Univision, and WPIX, a CW station in New York City. It comes about a week after Aereo filed a similar suit in response to a complaint from ABC, CBS, NBCUniversal and NBCUniversal's Telemundo.
The new service, which launched this month in New York City, says it offers "proprietary remote antenna and DVR" technology "that consumers can use to access network television on web-enabled devices." It provides over-the-air signals from various broadcasters to its subscribers for $12 a month.
Public Media Co. spins off PMVG, sees change in leadership
PMC will establish a public benefit corporation as part of the changes.

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaCommonCrawl


Set aside time each week to get a meal together or head out to the beach. It's valuable to make sure the whole family is informed and kept happy during this process. Whilst the open homes are going on, your agent (me) can often take care of everything. which leaves great opportunity to spend some family time together. Quality time can be sparse during the whole selling and moving process so take advantage of this small time gap to keep everyone up to date with what's happening.
Formulate a plan of attack for the weeks leading up to your move. This can include a chronological list of jobs to tick off, each allocated to a week. Bit by bit, week by week, start decluttering, organising, cleaning and packing (if you're not hiring someone for that).
It's amazing how much junk can accumulate in the garage or in the back of your children's wardrobes and how much time you'll need to spend on this – don't leave everything until the last minute. Having a comprehensive list can take the stress off wondering what you've missed, or what you still have to do.
If you are using me then you've been successful in selling, now it's the next big step of moving. Create a pack of 'essentials' for the day. This includes water and snacks to keep your energy and focus up, toiletries (so they don't get packed up and are easily available in the new home for that first night) and a change of clothes - because who knows what could go wrong.
If you have children young enough that need looking after, ask a friend or family member if they can hang out with them for a day here and there, it can be one less thing to worry about while getting your house ready. This same tip applies on moving day. However, if they are old enough to take care of themselves then get them helping out.
By taking the time to organise and prepare for the big move for both you and your family, it can make the whole process of selling your home that much easier.


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Let the articles flow
feminism (?)
self care (?)
sustainability (?)
culture (?)
sex (?)
health (?)
dignity (?)
identity (?)
social justice (?)
period hacks (?)
product info (?)
news (?)
New to menstrual equity? Keep reading for a brief overview of what the term means, and what you can do to help eliminate period poverty in your community.
Menstrual equity was a term that I had not ever heard until I started working here at Aisle. I'd heard about period poverty, but could not rattle off stats off the top of my head, and definitely did not fully grasp the scope of it. Now I constantly hear myself telling anyone who will listen: "did you know that one-third of people who menstruate under the age of 25 in Canada struggle to afford the products they need every month?"
How did I get here? A lot of reading and googling, mostly. Keep reading for a brief overview of what menstrual equity is, and what you can do to help your community.
Brief content notice: Some of the links mentioned contain gendered language.
Let's start with some definitions.
Menstrual equity is a relatively new phrase coined by Jennifer Weiss-Wolf in 2015. Essentially, it's a framework for engaging policymakers. It's meant to acknowledge the importance of and need for public policy to address the safety, affordability, and availability of menstrual products for everyone who needs them.
Period poverty is, at its most basic, economic conditions where it is difficult or impossible for individuals to buy menstrual products. So basically, it's scenarios where people who menstruate have to choose food or having enough money for rent over getting a new pack of pads or tampons. If you want to read more about period poverty in Canada specifically, check out this blog post.
Period poverty is a complex issue. There are so many factors that contribute to it, and the situation varies wildly from place to place, person to person.
Here's the good news though, you don't have to solve this on your own, and we're not starting from scratch.
One thing that activists have been working towards worldwide is eliminating the tampon tax. The tampon tax refers to the sales tax that's applied to all menstrual products, not just tampons.
In Canada, the tampon tax was eliminated back in 2015, but in the US, it varies state to state. For example, there's no tampon tax in Oregon and New York. However, California still has the tampon tax. And you know what's not taxed in California? Chocolate bars. Does your state have a tampon tax? If so, is there a petition going around to eliminate it?
Now, of course, eliminating the tampon tax is not going to solve the problem by itself. It's much bigger than that. So what else can be done?
Act local!
Research local organizations near you who are already doing this work! I can pretty much guarantee that they do exist, but have next to no marketing budget to work with, which is why you may not have heard of them. You can search for period specific organizations, but it can also be helpful to get in touch with Indigenous advocacy groups, homeless shelters, LGBTQ+ organizations and domestic violence shelters and ask what supplies they need.
Do your research before making a donation! Take a look at their website and maybe consider contacting them with any questions you may have. Not every organization has the same donation needs, because they don't all serve the same communities. In some cases, they might need boxes of unopened product, but other places may need things like masks or money.
If you aren't in a place where you can make a financial donation, maybe ask and see if they need volunteers, or if there's any way you could get the word out. Many organizations are working towards having menstrual products distributed for free in schools, workplaces, and public libraries, and would probably appreciate your support with making phone calls or writing letters or emails to local representatives.
There are always more things to learn, and so many more perspectives to learn about. Menstruation is deeply, deeply personal, and there is no one-size-fits-all solution to period poverty. We have to be sure that we're applying an intersectional lens to these conversations in order to be sure everyone's voices are being heard.
Sign petitions
Contact local representatives
Keep talking about periods. Stigma is a big contributor to period poverty, and normalizing menstruation and removing the stigma surrounding periods in general will help us have more in depth conversations about menstrual equity as well.
Follow folks on social media! Here are some people/orgs we love:
#HappyPeriod and their founder, Chelsea VonChaz
No More Secrets
Jennifer Weiss-Wolf
FreePeriodsCanada
The Period Purse
United Way Lower Mainland (BC)
Here's a little reading list, to get you started:
Period Poverty in Canada
The Hidden Impact of Period Poverty in Prisons
Periods Gone Public
ACLU's period equity toolkit
More of a documentaries person? We gotchu:
The Bloody Truth About Period Poverty in America
Period. End of Sentence. (This one won an Oscar for Best Documentary Short Subject)!
And if periods really aren't your thing, there's also a lot to be said for learning more about reproductive justice in general, or even learning a bit more about sex-ed. We love the Sex Ed with DB podcast.
All of these things are interconnected, and there's a lot of work and learning to be done! We hope that there's an item on this list that resonates with you and empowers you to join the push for menstrual equity, no matter where you live.
Photo by Gabrielle Rocha Rios on Unsplash
It's Time For Ottawa To Recognize Periods
COVID-19 Is A Feminist Nightmare
This world works better for some than others, and when the chips are down, we do not experience disaster equally.
by Jane H.
Aisle's hometown of Vancouver has now been grappling with the impacts of the COVID-19; and if we've learned anything, it is that COVID-19 is a feminist nightmare. The complications, fragilities and dangers that many are experiencing are not caused by the novel coronavirus but have been exposed by this pandemic. The patriarchal and racist seams of our society have been laid bare; proof that this world works better for some than others, and when the chips are down, we do not experience disaster equally.
We live in a violent society. The near-worldwide stay-at-home orders flattened the curve, but they also revealed an ugly truth for many - that home is not a safe place to be. Statistics Canada is reporting that one in ten Canadian women currently fear violence at home, and police forces are reporting a 22% jump in domestic disturbance calls. Battered Women's Support Services (BWSS), an organization that has been tackling intimate partner violence for decades in Vancouver, reported a 300% spike in calls to their hotline. Being subject to violence in your own home is completely unacceptable, but it is a literally inescapable reality for too many. We didn't do enough to stop intimate partner violence before the pandemic, and now our inaction is being paid for, painfully, by those we failed to help.
We live in a racist society. Anti-Asian rhetoric and scapegoating is common and often coming from some of the most wealthy and privileged individuals in our society. North Vancouver MLA Bowinn Ma astutely pointed out that COVID-19 did not cause racism but it was as lethal to our communities as any virus.
With everything that's been going on, I've felt very strongly the need to say something about #AntiAsianRacism during #COVID19 ...so here I am saying it. #bcpoli #BryanAdams #HateIsAVirus pic.twitter.com/j5Yv8J9ver
— Bowinn Ma (@BowinnMa) May 13, 2020
New data by the CDC shows that African-Americans are disproportionately dying of COVID-19. This is not because the novel coronavirus is particularly lethal to Black people, but because Black people experience structural inequities in healthcare that makes it harder for them to access safe, supportive healthcare. Native Americans also have been particularly vulnerable to the virus. Doctors Without Borders has dispatched a team of nine to the Navajo Nation, which is reporting some of the highest rates of infection per capita in the United States. It is hard to self-isolate if your home lacks running water, a reality for one in three Navajo as well as countless other Indigenous people.
We live in a patriarchal society. Workforces that are disproportionately female have been deemed both essential and nonessential; as society shifted under the stay-at-home orders, the services that some provided were no longer essential. This recession is rare because it is driven by the service economy, an economy so staffed by women in low-wage and precarious work, it has been dubbed a she-cession. Nearly 14 million Canadians applied for the Canada Emergency Response Benefit, proof that our government can act quickly to support workers. However, Bill C-86, vital pay equity legislation that has passed parliament and received royal assent, still has not been enacted at the federal level. It was passed in 2018, and would have given many workers the opportunity to be paid fairly and securely before we ever considered physical distancing.
What has become clear is that COVID-19 is a disease that worsens preexisting conditions. The preexisting conditions of sexism, racism and homophobia made us more vulnerable to this disease. It will cause more people to die and suffer, because we did not make the changes necessary for a healthier society that would have been more resilient. Now, at Aisle, we're sewing masks for our neighbours in the Downtown Eastside. It helps, but it's not enough. We need to move past this pandemic with a recovery that not only makes us immune to COVID-19, but resistant to what made us sick as a society in the first place.
Please stay home. Please wash your hands, and wear a mask. Keep space between you and others. However, call your elected representatives, donate and learn. COVID-19 is a feminist nightmare, and our new normal has to be better for everyone.
Photo by Michael Amadeus on Unsplash
Cloth Masks For The DTES: An FAQ
In this time of crisis, Aisle is deploying its manufacturing resources to support our community's most vulnerable population with PPE. We're calling on our community to join us in funding the manufacture of fabric masks.
by Aisle Team
Photo credit: Jesse Winter
The COVID-19 crisis has hit everyone very hard, some more than others. We've all had to adjust to the realities and responsibilities of self-quarantine, self-isolation and staying or working from home. But what if you do not have the privilege of doing this safely and securely?
The Downtown East Side ("DTES") is Vancouver's lowest-income and most vulnerable neighbourhood that - due to a host of social inequities and injustices - is home to a disproportionate number of marginalized people experiencing, among other things, mental illness, homelessness and substance addiction. With supplies running low, face masks are desperately needed by front line social service workers who are supporting these individuals in accessing shelter, food and healthcare.
In this time of crisis, Aisle has decided to deploy its manufacturing resources to support our community's most vulnerable population with PPE (personal protective equipment). We are calling on our community to join us in funding the manufacture of fabric masks. While we are able to donate fabric for this purpose, as a small business hard-hit by the economic fallout from the COVID-19 pandemic, we lack sufficient resources to pay our production partners to make the masks.
The masks will be distributed to organizations represented by DTES Response including: DTES SRO Collaboration (SRO-C), Western Aboriginal Harm Reduction Society (WAHRS), Friends of CCAP (Carnegie Community Action Project), and Overdose Prevention Society (OPS).
Please join us in supporting this urgent need by donating HERE.
Suzanne and Madeleine
Q: Why did you decide to make cloth masks?
Aisle received its first request for cloth masks on March 16, 2020 from Marnie Goldenberg, Director of Directions Youth Services. We provided Directions with 150 masks as a pilot project and are currently receiving user feedback as we move ahead with expanding our production to meet the needs of other groups serving marginalized communities at this time.
Q. Why are fabric masks needed at this time in Vancouver's Downtown East Side?
In short, because this is a true healthcare emergency.
Kathy Shimizu, a DTES Response Coordinator says, "I think the mask shortage is going to be an issue for some time to come. These new non-medical masks can reduce the spread of virus from infected people and while a mask won't guarantee that you don't get or spread COVID-19, it definitely lowers the risk. For DTES frontline workers, it could make a big difference, especially when combined with a face shield (which are also being donated!). And use of washable masks by the general public could help alleviate the shortage of medical grade masks for hospital staff and first responders."
Q. What are medical personnel saying about the use of cloth masks?
"Masks are not a magic bullet against coronavirus… but if everybody wears face masks, it probably can help, along with all the other measures (like hand washing and social distancing), to reduce transmission."
— Benjamin Cowling, Epidemiology Professor, University of Hong Kong
"Cloth masks can be very helpful in preventing the spread of COVID-19. Similar to paper surgical masks, cloth masks help prevent the transmission of infectious droplets from the patient to the HCP (health care provider), especially if used in conjunction with eye protection and gloves (as recommended by the CDC). Masks can also prevent potentially infectious droplets from entering the air nearby. Though there is no data yet to support this, cloth masks should work similarly to paper surgical masks as they both act as a non-sterile physical barrier to person to person droplet transmission.
Due to the reusable nature of cloth masks, thorough washing after daily wear is an important component of infectious disease transmission reduction. The mask does not need to be sterilized but should be cleaned with a disinfecting product such as soap and water. Cloth masks could be an important addition to existing medical equipment to help prevent the spread of COVID-19.
Because both a surgical and cloth mask help prevent potentially infectious droplets from a cough or sneeze from entering the air nearby, those with a persistent cough should wear a mask when around others. Cloth masks may be more comfortable in the long term and may lead to greater adherence by those possibly infected individuals."
— Dr. Karen E. Harris, MD, MPH, Days for Girls International Board Chair, Program Director for the OB/GYN Residency, UCF/HCA Consortium - Gainesville FL
Q. Are fabric masks comparable in terms of performance to surgical masks?
No. Like all cloth masks currently being made to support COVID-19, they are solely intended to provide some form of barrier. Proper surgical and N95 masks are in short supply. We cannot assure anyone of the effectiveness of a cloth mask for any purpose. We are extremely conscious of this and have advised our partners, in writing, to ensure they understand the limitations of these masks and any user must be advised that they may use them at their own risk.
Q. Where can I learn more about the current research about the efficacy of fabric masks?
There is a growing number of resources available; we have collected them in this document.
Q. How are the masks being made and what measures and protocols have been implemented to ensure safety in manufacturing?
The masks are being made in East Vancouver by our longtime manufacturing partners. Our team has implemented a number of stringent safety procedures to ensure that team members and production partners are safe during the manufacturing process, as well as ensuring that the masks are made under safe working conditions. These measures include limits to the number of people in any work area, physical distancing of workers, the use of masks and gloves, frequency and length of time of handwashing and sanitizing the workplace regularly.
Q. What measures are in place to ensure correct use of the masks?
Each mask comes with a set of written instructions on their correct use and care, including washing, that has been reviewed by a medical doctor.
Q. Can I buy some of these fabric masks for my personal use?
No, we are only making these masks for DTES Response at this time.
Q. I represent a social service agency in the DTES: can you supply us with fabric masks as well?
Our ability to support other agencies is dependent on our production capacity and ability to fundraise. We encourage you to directly reach out to DTES Response to request to participate: wecare@dtesresponse.ca
Q. I am making fabric masks at home. Can I send them to you?
Not at this time. Our warehouse is closed for safety reasons and our team is focused on making a high volume of masks with our local manufacturing partners. If you wish to make fabric masks, we encourage you to start your own group or look within your community to find where they may be needed. There are numerous Facebook groups who are organizing similar efforts. Many thanks and good luck!
Q: Will you be making other PPE like gowns, bed linens and supplying them to other organizations who are also in short supply, such as hospitals?
We are prepared to be of service to other organizations if required. We also expect the coordinated efforts of DTES Response to only grow, and we will do our best to meet this demand with the resources we have available.
The Great Menstrual Products Unavailability Crisis is real.
by Guest Blogger
TAKE ACTION TODAY! SIGN OUR PETITION AND ASK FOR FREE PERIOD PRODUCTS IN CANADIAN WORKPLACES!
On May 3, 2019, then-federal Labour Minister Patricia Hajdu announced her intention to amend the Canada Labour Code and add menstrual products to the list of items required in restrooms in federally regulated workplaces and buildings.
A national discussion about menstruation ensued. If you read the headlines, it sounded like Ottawa was throwing free boxes of tampons and pads to federal employees at taxpayers' expense. Maxime Bernier went hysterical, sarcastically referencing The Great Menstrual Products Unavailability Crisis on Twitter. 'Next they'll expect toilet paper for free', he thought to himself.
Actually, Mr. Bernier, restrooms already provide a host of supplies for free. There's free toilet paper, free soap, free paper towels, even free urinals. Maxime doesn't worry about going to the john and not finding what he needs.
The Great Menstrual Products Unavailability Crisis is real. Periods are unpredictable.
The Great Menstrual Products Unavailability Crisis is real. Periods are unpredictable. There's no bladder to hold the blood. 'You mustn't wear tampons ahead of time for fear of toxic shock syndrome. Tampons and pads don't signal when they're full. Accidents and leaks are common. Menstrual emergencies can't be ignored or they only get worse.
Yet you simply do not see 25% of your friends, family and coworkers around you bleeding on any given day. They are discreet and do whatever necessary to manage the blood. They create makeshift pads from toilet paper; ask colleagues for a pad, tampon or cash; leave the workplace and run to the drugstore; or even go home or stay home to deal with their period privately.
Minister Hajdu understood how menstrual surprises and pervasive menstrual stigma in society can make it hard to be fully productive at work. When you have a period, regardless of whether you're rich or poor, young or peri-menopausal, you need ready access to these essential items. This is why they should be freely available in washrooms, like soap and toilet paper.
All these rules clearly state the need for urinals. All these rules fail to mention menstrual products.
Most people don't know that Canada's restrooms are regulated by sets of rules: the federal and provincial occupational health and safety regulations, and the national and provincial building codes. All these rules clearly state the need for toilet paper, soap, wash water, and paper towels in every bathroom outside the home.
The restrooms at work are equipped so your non-menstruating colleagues get all the free toiletries and special plumbing they need for extra speed and convenience; whereas your restroom lacks a basic necessity that is shrouded in shame. In fact, even the women's washroom is better equipped to serve a cis man than it is to serve a menstruator.
Some restrooms have vending machines and charge up to $2.00 for a single tampon or pad. Imagine paying a toonie to obtain a few squares of toilet paper. IKEA provides free diapers in the restroom but charges 50 cents each for a tampon or a pad. Mountain Equipment Co-op in Vancouver makes customers pay $1 for a tampon or pad. (Seriously, men should Pay-to-Pee in solidarity and give a loonie to use the urinal.)
Those who don't need period products know their needs are met in every restroom across the country. They never carry cash or extra supplies to use the toilet. And rightfully so. Good for them. I don't begrudge my tax dollars spent on urinals that benefit my son, brother, and father. But, to be fair, let's have some consideration too.
Some say the federal government is trying to bolster its feminist credentials (how I love that phrase). However, it is simply not true. The menstrual equity movement has gained momentum over the past few years across the country and around the world. It takes time to raise awareness and reach decisions through various levels of government.
A few years ago we got rid of the tampon tax that implied menstrual products are luxury items. They aren't luxuries, nor amenities, they are necessities. The next logical step is putting them in restrooms for free, just like toilet paper. In the best of all possible worlds, every stall would have a sleek wall mounted dispenser with various styles and absorbencies, but we are not there yet. Menstrual shame and stigma run deep. Many of us have to overcome our own shame to stand up and talk about the issue. Many others are not there yet.
Menstrual shame and stigma run deep. Many of us have to overcome our own shame to stand up and talk about the issue. Many others are not there yet.
Recently city councillors in Cambridge and Hamilton, ON quashed pro-period pilot projects because they were embarrassed to talk about menstruation. Imagine how women and all menstruators must feel when your elected representative cannot bring themselves to speak of a normal, healthy, recurring event in your life. Menstrual stigma restricts success by making half of the population less than fully productive and always watching their back.
In 2017, when I learned my daughter's school bathroom had no menstrual products, I bought a coin-free dispenser, installed it in the school and started speaking to school boards. On Feb 26, 2019, New Westminster became the first district in Canada to provide free menstrual products in school bathrooms.
Continued advocacy by myself, other dedicated individuals, and long-time pro-period groups like United Way's Period Promise resulted in the Ministerial Order of April 5, 2019, requiring all public schools across BC to provide free menstrual products in girls' and universal bathrooms. BC became the first province in Canada to do this. Now over 250,000 girls, trans, gender non-conforming and non-binary folks with periods in BC will see evidence that periods happen, and not have to feel shame.
Since then numerous municipalities and school districts from Victoria to Halifax have put period products in the restrooms. Grassroots advocates approach their city halls and elected representatives and ask for it.
Periods are everywhere; in school, at work, in public, doing business, buying goods and services, governing, volunteering, while playing sports.
We urge the current Minister of Labour Filomena Tassi to enact the proposed amendment recognizing the need for menstrual products in workplace restrooms. This will set the standard for provinces and municipalities to follow. It will reduce menstrual stigma and increase productivity and engagement at work.
Periods are everywhere; in school, at work, in public, doing business, buying goods and services, governing, volunteering, playing sports. Let's remove barriers to our mobility and engagement outside the home. Let's make it so no one has to carry their own tampons or pads or money to the bathroom because Canada's bathrooms have got you covered.
Selina Tribe is an inspired menstrual justice advocate, who was a key player in the groundbreaking legislation first in New Westminster, and then the province of BC, to mandate free period products in schools. She's also a professional geoscientist, a member of the Women's Advisory Committee for the City of Vancouver, the Chair of the Women in Engineering and Geoscience, division of Engineers and Geoscientists BC, and passionate mom.
Period poverty is real, and it is a Canadian problem. One-third of Canadians under the age of 25 who menstruate struggle to buy enough products every month. It is a truly invisible form of poverty.
At its most basic level, period poverty is economic conditions where it is difficult or impossible for individuals to buy menstrual products. To put it more simply, it's prioritizing food over tampons, housing over pads and the dozens of other decisions made to survive in the face of punishing deprivation.
The consequences of period poverty are myriad: missed school and work days, health problems and a decreased sense of self-worth are all associated with this phenomenon.
Before taking a closer look at period poverty, let's go over a couple of basic facts and figures about menstruation. For most Canadians who menstruate, their first period occurs between the ages of 11 and 14 and will continue until about the age of 50. All in all, it's estimated that folks who have a period will menstruate for six years of their life.
The price of menstrual products is subject to change depending on your location in Canada. For example, if you're looking to buy a box of tampons or pads in Nunavut you can expect to pay upwards of $15 to $18 per box. In Metro Vancouver the same items cost only $3 to $11 and can be even less expensive if purchased in bulk. Urban areas are more likely to offer a selection of stores, giving the shopper a chance to compare prices. Online stores are a good option in terms of lower pricing, but require a fixed address within the range of their delivery service and often, access to a credit card.
Consider the context
In an ideal world everyone would be using reusable menstrual products and, under the right circumstances, this would save individuals a very significant amount of money. For those who are living with period poverty using reusable menstrual products poses two main challenges. The immediate issue is cost—while spending $30 to $50 may seem like a small sacrifice to some it's an insurmountable sum of money for others. The second issue has to do with hygiene—many individuals, especially if they're living in a shelter, have no place to launder or clean reusable menstrual products.
Consider the health implications
Because this type of poverty can leave individuals with only a few tampons or pads to use over the course of an entire period there is also the potential for serious health problems. Toxic Shock Syndrome is a serious risk if tampons are being left in for an extended amount of time. Similarly, a pad that has been used for several days can cause urinary tract infections, fungal infections and even infertility in severe cases.
What's being done to help period poverty in Canada?
On July 1, 2015, the Canadian government removed the so-called "tampon tax" from all menstrual products—including tampons, pads, sanitary belts and menstrual cups. While this was an important change symbolically, removing the GST from these items does little in the way of their affordability. There have been inquiries by the Canadian government into providing free menstrual products in the workplace, although no changes have occurred at this time. Recently, the provincial government enacted a policy wherein menstrual products are now available free of charge in British Columbia schools.
You can get involved with the fight against period poverty in your own community or you can help at a national level. Locally, getting in contact with Indigenous advocacy groups, LGBTQ+ organizations and domestic violence shelters is a great way to find out which items are needed. Across Canada, Plan International Canada, The Period Purse and Oxfam Canada are all well-established organizations who are working to end period poverty. We're particularly proud of the work being done in British Columbia by Period Promise, which has brought free products to schools and is a constant advocate for menstrual equity. (A quick content notice - many of these links use gendered language).
Furthermore, call your MPP, MLA, MNA or territorial representative to ask that your province or territory take action on period poverty - there are lots of concrete steps to take to ease period poverty.
Ashley Linkletter is a mental health, food, and nutrition writer based in Vancouver, BC.
'We Cannot Tell People How To Menstruate': Period Justice with Chris Bobel
"We don't evaluate menstruation as a vital sign or as part of a lifecycle. We're not engaging with the body as a system - we think about menstruation as a problem to be solved with a product."
Today we're so lucky to be sharing space with Chris Bobel, Professor and Chair of Women's, Gender & Sexuality Studies at the University of Massachusetts Boston.We connected with Chris to talk about real, sustainable change in menstrual equity and ending period shame. She brought so much insight to the table, and we're so thrilled to share with you. Read more about Chris here!
A: What is the biggest challenge facing menstrual health management?
CB: It's frustrating from the beginning - we have placed a frame around these issues—the menstrual equity frame—that is just not sustainable. Menstrual equity should not be reduced to just products. Our frame, overall, on this issue, is too tightly focused on access to materials - and don't misunderstand me, access to materials is crucial, but we need to hold two truths at once. We cannot just stick pads over stigma. It's not sustainable to build a frame that that serves to benefit product makers and especially corporate CSR. The endgame has to be dismantling period stigma.
That's not to say we don't need to be practical and material. People need menstrual materials. But we want to support a world where—at least in theory—it's comfortable and safe to free bleed, to let your hair go grey, to grow out your leg hair. We need to push innovation and access, but we cannot reduce the movement to just "having something to bleed on".
A: So, the problem is still located in the patriarchy.
CB: A lot of the language in menstruation is still bound up in sexism, racism and capitalism. We don't evaluate menstruation as a vital sign or as part of a lifecycle. We're not engaging with the body as a system—we think about menstruation as a problem to be solved with a product. This is even true of the menstrual equity movement.
But we have to be careful. We can't overcorrect, if you will. When we talk about menstrual transgressions, we can be tone deaf to people with gender dysphoria, bodies of colour, or others who occupy bodies and lives that are already in a transgressive position. A white middle class body can often cope with being transgressive; privilege protects. We need to understand where menstruation can be perilous, and how that is a consequence of period stigma and a cocktail of misogyny and racism.
A: How do we start undoing this, in a responsible way?
CB: I really want funders—NGOs, corporate execs responsible for social responsibility initiatives, social entrepreneurs—to invest in the movement beyond a time frame of a few years. And that's really hard for them. We have to resist the urge to go bigger, better, faster. We're working closely with WASH, but that development sector is one that is very fixated on SCALE. Install a toilet. Get a well. Given the complex cultural meanings around menstruation, it is tough to scale up interventions. Each place, each community needs something customized. So, we need to think differently.
We can learn from and partner with folks working in fields like birth control promotion, or genital cutting, or partner violence. Activists working in these movements have been engaged for decades. They know that change is slow. We have to learn from them. Menstrual stigma is not going to be undone by a year of free pads.
A: We've discussed how important disrupting the period taboo is to moving forward; often this is rooted in tradition. Is disrupting these traditions always helpful?
CB: When I was doing the fieldwork for The Managed Body, I travelled to rural Kenya to see the work a small organization—The Golden Girls Foundation—in partnership with Ruby is doing around menstrual education. In this area, there is a cultural taboo against touching certain plants while menstruating because people believe that doing so will cause the plants to die. So, one of the activities organized by the Golden Girls Foundation is maintaining a garden plot together where the leaders would work with the local girls and women. While the women and girls are working in the garden, if the leaders are menstruating, they might casually mention that and demonstrate the fallacy of the taboo—not in word but deed. I like this example because it is subtle and gentle. If we are going to work to challenge some menstrual traditions, we have to do so in ways that are culturally sensitive and these challenges are best when they come from WITHIN communities.
A lot of the discussion around managing menstrual restrictions has a very disrespectful tone. Its levels judgment against those in the Global South, deeming their cultural beliefs backward, silly or foolish. That's naive. These taboos can be rooted in very significant and important things—such as celebrations of maturity or fertility. They can be connected to hygiene, or diet and lifestyle and at one time, they may have made a lot of sense.
As we introduce new information, as we question the appropriateness of longstanding and deeply held belief and practices, it is unethical to suspend the girl between tradition and modernity. This disrupts her relationship with her family and her culture. Yes, the taboos can be harmful, but our response has to be culturally sensitive. We can't throw the baby out with the bathwater, can't raze the chhaupadi hut and leave the woman sleeping outside. After all, menstrual practices are tied with performing "good womanhood". To choose NOT to follow traditions can be read as putting one's family at risk—to be a bad wife, daughter, sister, mother. We might take a more harm-reductionist approach. We need to prioritize the safety of those we want to help and above all, ensure that any and all interventions are conceived in collaboration with those directly impacted.
A: How does the burgeoning menstrual equity operate ethically and helpfully in this case?
CB: Well, to start, we cannot tell people how to menstruate.
We need culturally sensitive, intersectional menstrual literacy, in both domestic policy as well as in efforts across the globe. You can't talk to a group of black schoolgirls in NYC the same way you talk to a middle-class moms in North Carolina. Standardizing messaging and materials will not do the job because it is hard to create a one size fits all solution. So, we have to work hard to tailor our programs so that everyone can access the information they need to know about their bodies. I hope we can find creative ways to teach body literacy—so that menstruators everywhere can make informed choices about how to care for their bodies.
Chris Bobel is Professor and Chair of Women's, Gender & Sexuality Studies at the University of Massachusetts Boston. Chris is the author of The Managed Body: Developing Girls and Menstrual Health in the Global South (Palgrave Macmillan), New Blood: Third Wave Feminism and the Politics of Menstruation (Rutgers University Press), The Paradox of Natural Mothering (Temple University Press), and the co-edited collections (with Samantha Kwan) Embodied Resistance: Breaking the Rules, Challenging the Norms (Vanderbilt University Press) and Body Battlegrounds: Transgressions, Tensions and Transformations (Vanderbilt University Press) and the forthcoming (and first ever) Handbook of Critical Menstruation Studies (Palgrave Macmillan). Chris is past president of the Society for Menstrual Cycle Research and is often consulted by the mainstream media about the rapidly growing menstrual activist movement. She is at work on a new ethnographic project exploring contemporary activism inspired by grief and trauma. Go here more information about Chris' publications and media engagements.
67 Ways To Have An Intersectional International Women's Day
The Painful Truth About The Period Taboo
The period taboo isn't just annoying tradition - it can deeply and negatively impact the lives of everyone who menstruates.
Menstruation myths and beliefs are passed on from generation-to-generation around the world. Different cultures or religions hold specific practices and beliefs, but overwhelmingly, menstruators deal with a culture that holds periods as taboo and deeply shameful. This means that simply having a period can complicate everyday events like family gatherings, going to school and can even result in death.
In liberal Western cultures, there's a strong stigma that surrounds periods. Menstruators are taught to conceal their period because it's considered embarrassing. In our daily language, we use unflattering terms for menstruation such as Aunt Flow, the curse, and Bloody Mary. If there's a visible period stain, we're immediately ashamed. Even when we're are on their way to the bathroom, we feel the need to hide tampons in our pockets, purses, or up our sleeves. It's like the walk of shame. While for many, it's no big deal to keep their cycle of the month a secret, it's actually disempowering. We're trained from an early age that our period is repulsive.
This belief adds to the period poverty problem. Some people are so embarrassed to talk about their period that they don't know how to ask for help when they can't afford period products. This impacts millions of people, especially when they have to choose between food or tampons.
It can get worse in the Global South, where these problems are multiplied by extreme poverty. Due to a huge gap in access to sexual and reproductive health education, many girls are exposed to unprotected sex, pregnancies, STDs, and infections. Many girls miss school each month during their periods because they don't have reliable access to menstrual products. According to ZanaAfrica Foundation, 65% of girls in Kenya cannot regularly access sanitary pads. And it's been reported that 10% of young girls have transactional sex in exchange for pads, putting them in a vulnerable and dangerous situation. (Aisle works to alleviate period poverty through our Dignity Projects).
Menstrual taboo appears throughout the world. In some parts of Nepal, the cultural practice is for menstruators to leave their home and live in a menstruation hut for the duration of their period. This practice is called Chhaupadi. These menstruation huts are unsanitary, and there have been reports of death due to lack of menstrual hygiene and animal attacks. The good news is a bill has been passed last year in Nepal that will criminalize anyone who forces a woman into a menstrual hut (the practice was banned in 2005). However, this is no guarantee; families are still practicing this century-old tradition, as well as the belief that menstruation causes ritual impurity.
Being of Indian descent and growing up around a religion called Jainism, I was presented with a set of rules when I started my period at the age of 11. The rules basically state that menstrual blood is considered impure and a person with a period is not allowed to touch anything, including clothes, food, and they aren't allowed to attend temples or pray. On the 4th day of my cycle, I had to wash my clothes and wash my hair to make myself *clean* again and then I was allowed to touch everything again. My parents weren't super strict on this rule. My grandmother, however, was very strict. Once, I accidentally touched her, and she felt the need to immediately take a shower and wash her hair.
While I respect my family and their beliefs, I never understood this rule. I followed this rule until I was about 18 years old, but I've also never been a religious person. It became something I let go.
To be honest, this practice actually made me feel devalued. Having a period is a natural process, and this rule made me feel like something was "wrong" with me. I had to always announce when I was on my period and it just felt like a huge burden on top of just having my period and dealing with the cramps and pain that came with it. Once, as a child, there was an event at my cousin's house where everyone was informed that I was on my period, and I had to sit in a chair on the side. My aunt came up to me and waved her finger at me and told me to stay in that chair and not move or touch anything. Years later, as an adult, these beliefs caused conflict between me and my aunt.
Having to process this as a child made no sense to me, however, as an adult, I understand that it was a cultural practice rooted in menstrual taboo. It looks like the next generation creating their own beliefs. We are able to choose whether to participate or not in these traditions. However, not everyone around the world is as lucky, whether because of culture, poverty or simple misinformation. Periods are normal, and this taboo has to go.
What has your experience been with culture and menstruation? Share your thoughts with us on social media.
Priya Shah is a Chicago-based freelance copywriter and serial blogger armed with a journalism degree and a strong background in providing clients with value, creativity, and a killer voice. She's also a world traveler, has lived abroad, and loves exploring other cultures.
Photo by Chris Murray on Unsplash
Let's be clear - feminism isn't feminism without intersectionality. Let's take International Women's Day to examine our privileges, embrace our differences and think about how we can build justice every day of the year.
Let's be clear - feminism isn't feminism without intersectionality. Let's take International Women's Day to examine our privileges, embrace our differences and think about how we can build justice every day of the year. Here are 67 suggestions to get started.
Register to vote - for every level of government. The school board can be as important as the Oval Office.
Learn what to do if you see someone attacked for their identity.
Take an anti-racism workshop.
Follow the Journalists of Color Twitter list.
Resolve to confront your friends and family when they say something problematic. Figure out your strategy. Practice in a mirror.
Get a full eight hours of sleep.
Take a selfie. Post it and tell everyone how cute you are. (Tag us! We wanna see!)
Find out the name of the Indigenous people of the land you live and work on - and the treaty arrangements that govern that relationship.
Book that doctor or therapist appointment you've been putting off.
Support a women-owned business.
Pick up a copy of Vivek Shraya's I'm Afraid of Men.
Donate to the Sylvia Rivera Law Project.
Think of one way you can cut plastic waste from your life - and put it into action.
Four words: Janelle Monae dance party.
Write to your congressperson or MP about an issue that means a lot to you.
Book your vacation. Even if it's a stay-cation.
Learn to make your own personal care products.
Join Bitch Media's The Rage.
Learn to fix your car or bicycle.
Donate to your local women's shelter or Planned Parenthood. Alternatively, look into volunteering.
Pick up Robin Marty's Handbook for a Post-Roe America.
Learn about the Stonewall Uprising.
Have an orgasm. Hell, have two.
Ask about pronouns. Don't make a big deal out of it.
List three ways you have privilege.
Ask HR or your boss if they have a policy around accessibility.
If you enjoy economic privilege - pick up the tab today.
Go to a beach or park cleanup.
If you're Canadian, read the Calls to Action for the Truth and Reconciliation Commission on Residential Schools.
Seek out your healing community.
Notice how your commute could be inaccessible to a person with a disability.
Start composting.
Watch 13th, by Ava DuVernay.
Come up with a concrete way to support your mental health (meditation! journaling! exercise!) and commit to doing it for 15 minutes a day.
Find a package-free shop in your area and stock up waste-free!
Get rid of that bra that does not fit. Ditto your uncomfortable underwear. It's 2019. We should be past this.
Read The Invisible Knapsack, if you haven't already.
Repeat after me: diets don't work.
Visit Harvard's Project Implicit and take the daily task.
Check in with your electricity or gas provider and see if there is a way to reduce your energy usage.
Look for the B Corp symbol in your day-to-day purchases.
Forgive someone.
Watch Kimberlé Crenshaw's TED talk on the urgency of intersectionality.
Pick up Fat Shame by Amy Erdman Farrell.
Quit your bank and join a Credit Union instead.
Donate to National Bailout and help #FreeBlackMamas
Find out who made your clothes, and then become a fashion revolutionary and push for greater transparency in the garment industry.
Pay for your porn.
Find an opportunity to laugh.
Find a local organization supporting immigrants or refugees and help them out.
Learn about the racist roots of modern gynecology.
Learn how many slaves work for you. (Yup.)
Start having a Meatless Monday.
Sign your organ donor card.
If you're American, calculate your American Dream Score.
Learn about environmental racism.
Normalize the word cis. Practice using it in everyday conversations.
Center fat people / fat liberation in your conversations about body positivity.
Calculate your carbon footprint.
Say so long to "lame" and chuck other ableist metaphors from your vocabulary, too.
Quit gendered language. Why say his/hers when you could just say theirs?
Be open to having your assumptions challenged. Listen and sit with your discomfort.
Beautify your space with art by marginalized artists.
Practice being kind to yourself.
Book tickets to a local theatre performance that centers BIPOC artists.
Say it louder for the folks in the back: Trans women are biological women.
Use your privilege and platforms to amplify marginalized voices, but stay humble and know when to pass the mic.
Photo by Drop the Label Movement on Unsplash
Let's Make 2019 A Year of Breakthrough Progress on Dignified Periods
It's 2019. Time to see some period progress.
It's still cold out, but the menstrual equity movement is keeping the heat on. It's simply ridiculous that in 2019 that people that menstruate still struggle to access supplies, pay taxes on basic necessities and navigate an industry that keeps secret basic information, like exactly what is in a tampon.
So what's the latest? Let us catch you up.
Period Poverty
Period poverty is real, y'all. In 2018, Canada's Global News reported that one-third of all Canadian menstruators under the age of 25 can't afford to buy what they need for their periods. We discussed how you can't have a period on welfare in BC. It's not much better in the United States or the UK, FYI - and an attempt to ditch the tampon tax in California failed.
It's not all doom and gloom. Nevada and Ohio ditched their taxes on period products, making it just fourteen states where you can bleed tax-free. U.S. Senators Cory Booker and Elizabeth Warren stood up for incarcerated menstruators, helping them access dignity as well as menstrual supplies. It's still not enough, but one step at a time. Canadians - raise your glasses to four years of being tampon tax free!
Congresswoman Grace Meng of the 6th District is a leader in the menstrual equity space, most recently leading Congressional efforts to ensure adequate period protection for federal inmates. Definitely join her newsletter if you're looking to keep up to date on legislation to enforce transparency in period products (ie. what harsh chemicals are in your tampon?).
In the New York Assembly, Assemblymember Linda Rosenthal is re-introducing legislation to require that box packaging for menstrual products to disclose the contents of pads or tampons. Rosenthal called out Kotex in December during a product recall (ie. U by Kotex tampons just started falling apart in vaginas).
If you live in Alabama, Arizona, Arkansas, California, Colorado, Georgia, Hawaii, Idaho, Indiana, Iowa, Kansas, Kentucky, Louisiana, Maine, Michigan, Mississippi, Missouri, Nebraska, Nevada, New Mexico, North Carolina, North Dakota, Ohio, Oklahoma, Rhode Island, South Carolina, South Dakota, Tennessee, Texas, Utah, Vermont, Virginia, Washington, West Virginia, Wisconsin, and Wyoming, and cannot believe that you're still paying a tampon tax in 2019, reach out to Jennifer Weiss-Wolf's organization, Period Equity. They're organizing legislative and legal challenges to ensure menstrual justice.
Regardless of where you live, organize against period poverty. One place to start is by contacting changemaking organizations like PERIOD, the Period Purse and Femme International. They organize opportunities to get informed and then take action in your local community.
Lastly, normalize periods. They're not shameful or dirty - they're a natural result of having a uterus. The problem is rooted in misogyny - where the menstrual taboo results in real dangers for those who have periods. The work of feminism is to support everyone in getting the medical care and self care that they need.
Menstrual Hygiene: More Than a Day and More Than Just for Women
Let's dig into the period poverty incarcerated people with periods face every month - and how impossible dignity can seem in that situation.
Our guest blogger Mika Doyle digs into the period poverty incarcerated menstruators face every month - and how impossible dignity can seem in that situation.
Imagine having to bargain for menstrual products every month, sometimes having to do things you never thought you'd do to get them. When that doesn't work, you're forced to bleed straight through your clothes and sit in your own menstrual blood for hours on end. And the people who are supposed to protect and help you mock you and call you disgusting for a natural bodily function almost everyone with a uterus has. That's the reality many incarcerated menstruators face across the globe.
In the United States, federal prisons are supposed to provide menstrual products for free, and that includes regular- and super-sized tampons, regular- and super-sized pads with wings, and regular-sized pantiliners. But Senator Cory Booker, who's been working with Senator Elizabeth Warren to create greater access to the products menstruating prisoners need, told Refinery29 that policies like this are "just words on a piece of paper unless it's properly enforced."
That's why it's so easy for menstrual products to be used as bargaining chips to gain power and control over inmates, Women's Health reports. "There's a constant negotiation with [corrections officers] to get menstrual health supplies," Chandra Bozelko, a prison reform advocate and writer who blogs about her time as a prisoner at York Correctional Institution in Connecticut, told Women's Health. "You'd ask a CO for pads or tampons, and he would ask you questions like, 'How long have you been bleeding? Didn't I give you a pad yesterday? How long is this one going to last?'"
So even though federal law states prisoners have a right to free menstrual products to ensure they have clean conditions during their incarceration, those menstrual products are still being withheld from them by people who are willfully violating their human rights. And on the state level, access to menstrual products is even worse, with many states putting a cap on the number of menstrual products inmates can receive each month. That's why Arizona state representative Athena Salman introduced a bill in January 2018 that would provide unlimited menstrual products to prisoners, according to Global Citizen.
Formerly incarcerated people in Arizona testified before a committee of nine men (yes, men) about the 12-pad per month limit, according to Global Citizen. This restriction forces inmates to ration menstrual products, free-bleed, or face unsanitary conditions. If inmates want more than 12 pads, they have to ask a corrections officer — who are often men — or pay for them using their commissary accounts, Global Citizen reports. But, says Global Citizen, paying for extra menstrual products is often impossible for most prisoners, who earn only about 15 cents an hour through prison-provided jobs.
"Bloodstained pants, bartering and begging for pads was a regular occurrence," one woman told the Arizona state House of Representatives committee, says Global Citizen. "You've got to really think if you want to sink your whole month's income into pads."
In the UK, the Home Office proposed in August new guidelines for police treatment of menstruating detainees to ensure they are treated with dignity, The Independent reports. The new guidelines came after watchdog organization the Independent Custody Visiting Association (ICVA), which monitors the mistreatment of detainees, revealed alleged mistreatment of menstruating people while in police custody, says The Independent. According to BBC News, the ICVA is funded by the Home Office, and it found that menstruating people in Wales and England are often held in police cells without access to menstrual products or facilities for changing or washing. One woman, says BBC News, allegedly had her clothes removed and was dressed in a paper suit without any menstrual protection. "She was left in a state of vulnerability sufficient to cause concern for her wellbeing, bleeding in a paper suit, alone in a cell," the ICVA told BBC News.
Under the proposed new guidelines, police will be required to ask female detainees (there was no mention of transgender or gender nonbinary detainees) if they need menstrual products while in police custody, says The Independent, and police need to make it clear those items are available for free.
It's worth noting that no one in police custody or who is incarcerated deserves to face unsanitary conditions. Bustle reports that many people who are incarcerated are survivors of violence and poverty. In fact, 72 percent of incarcerated women lived below the poverty line before entering prison, according to the Prison Policy Initiative. And none of these policies on menstrual product access even remotely mention transgender or gender nonbinary prisoners. Incarcerated people are human beings who should not have their basic human rights withheld.
Menstruation is a natural bodily function that should not be penalized or shamed, and menstruators should have access to the products they need — no matter where they are or who they are.
Photo by Matthew Ansley on Unsplash
You Can't Have A Period On Welfare In BC
Guess what you can't afford if you're on welfare in British Columbia? Well, your period, for starters.
Lunapads is based in Vancouver, Canada, easily one of the most beautiful cities on earth. Out our front windows, the North Shore mountains gaze down on a city full of beautiful parks, great culture and shiny, glassy condo buildings that twinkle against the sun and the sea. It is also one of the most unaffordable cities on the planet.
For those who don't know Vancouver, housing and homelessness is a persistent and endemic challenge. Although it can be found throughout the city, poverty is the most notorious characteristic of the Downtown Eastside. Located just a few blocks from Lunapads HQ, it is a stretch of the city known for its drug use and deep poverty, as well as community activism and proud resilience. Many residents of the Downtown Eastside rely on social assistance to survive. This means that they have to make it work on just $710 a month.
In a city with rents as high as they are in Vancouver, that typically means living in a single-resident occupancy hotel, or SRO. It's Vancouver's polite word for slum. A Globe and Mail exposé of some of the city's most notorious SROs revealed toilets overflowing with feces and needles, rodent infestations and holes in walls. Despite these appalling conditions, rents in private SROs keep climbing.
Organizations such as Raise the Rates have worked for years to draw attention to this problem. They work the numbers, showing how life on welfare is literally unliveable. A 2017 budget allotted $548 a month for rent, $68 for required costs to look for work like bus tickets and a cheap phone, $19 a week for food and just $10 for hygiene. Just ten bucks.
You can't have a period on welfare in BC.
So let's do some menstrual math. It is $6 for a box of menstrual pads at local retailer London Drugs. That leaves $4 for laundry, soap and toothpaste. Tough luck if you ruin your underwear or need some Advil for cramps.
So, yeah. You can't have a period on welfare in BC.
As an company that has advocated repeatedly that access to menstrual supplies is necessary to lift yourself out of poverty, we've been recognized for our work in the Global South. We're less known for our work in the local community - and that's okay, because we're not looking for a cookie. We donate reusables through the United Way of the Lower Mainland and PERIOD, both organizations working hard to bring menstrual supplies to those who need it - thousands of dollars worth of pads and underwear. We have donated our period boxer brief to support trans menstruators who struggle with poverty. We advocate for all efforts to remove the tampon tax and increase accessibility. We're angry about continued period poverty, because it's beyond unacceptable. It's the patriarchy in its purest form.
We're angry about continued period poverty, because it's beyond unacceptable. It's the patriarchy in its purest form.
To be honest, our product donations have their limits. To adopt reusables, you need access to clean water and washing facilities, something that makes Lunapads hard to use in a crisis situation. Trust us - this is a crisis situation. However, we're not giving up. Instead, we're asking you to help us take action.
If you live in BC, call or email your MLA and ask them to take action to support welfare recipients. If you live elsewhere, call your local representative. This problem is everywhere.
Donate disposable menstrual supplies - host an office drive, drop off products at your local food bank or call your local women's shelter for ideas. If anyone gets squicky because you keep mentioning periods, point out that the needs of poor menstruators outweigh their hang-ups about vaginas.
Resist period shame. The menstrual taboo prevents honest and open conversation around reproductive health and the basic need to have a dignified period. It hurts everyone who has a period, especially the most vulnerable amongst us.
On Giving Tuesday 2018, Lunapads will donate $10 for every sale we make and $1 for every time this article is shared on social media. We'll be sending the funds to the Downtown Eastside Women's Centre, one of Vancouver's most outstanding feminist organizations.
Let's stand up for each other. Every day.
Image from Flickr user AlexMH17. Used under Creative Commons.
Period poverty is real and impacting folks in your city today.
Here's how you can help.
Over the last week, your social feed might've been a little bit more period positive than you're used to. That's because May 28 was Menstrual Hygiene Day, a day dedicated to raising awareness of the challenges people face because of their periods and how we might address those challenges.
Now hold up. Some of you might be thinking, "OK, OK, so cramps are evil and sometimes my period seriously takes me out for an entire day, but what's this whole 'menstrual hygiene' thing? Are you implying my period makes me dirty? Rude."
Not at all. Your period is a natural bodily function. But across the globe – and even in your own neighborhood – there are people experiencing homelessness and poverty who:
don't have access to period products
don't have clean, private places to change their period products
don't have clean, private places to throw away their period products
don't have access to pain relief while they are on their periods
So what are they using for period products? Sadly, anything they can find, including rags, newspapers, bunched up toilet paper and any other materials they can find to create makeshift pads and tampons. This is incredibly unhygienic, and it's causing people to get infections, miss school, miss work, ruin what few clothes they might have, and much more.
We shouldn't let this happen if we're able to help. When periods are a fact of life for people with uteruses, people shouldn't be forced to create unclean, makeshift period products.
And that's the whole point of Menstrual Hygiene Day. Even though periods are a natural bodily function, they're still (oddly) a taboo subject, so we still need a big awareness campaign to educate people about the problem.
Menstrual Hygiene Affects Us All
So Menstrual Hygiene Day is a big step for period positivity, but the campaign's got a long way to go as far as inclusivity goes. The Menstrual Hygiene Day campaign materials are designed with the gender binary in mind. They're very pink, feature only graphics of girls, and use gendered language. Basically, they think only girls get periods.
Not only are women not the only people who get periods, but they're also not the only people who experience poverty and homelessness. In both Canada and the United States, transgender communities face a higher level of poverty and homelessness than cisgender communities. And many trans people report facing discrimination at shelters because they are transgender.
Imagine the challenges the trans communities face when it comes to menstrual hygiene. I mean, how are you supposed to get period products when people don't even believe you get a period?
Let's say it together: menstrual hygiene affects us all.
Menstrual Hygiene is a Year-Round Issue
Menstrual Hygiene Day may only be one day a year, but that doesn't mean our efforts to help those in need should only happen on May 28.
Globally, Menstrual Hygiene Day events will continue through June, with:
a Personal Hygiene Workshop in Africa on June 1
a workshop on medicinal plants in South America on June 1
a life-skills training session and distribution of menstrual products in Africa on June 2, and
Red Wave Talks in London on June 7
More locally – and on the opposite coast from where Lunapads is located – The Period Purse, a grassroots organization that provides purses filled with pads, tampons and wellness items directly to the homeless, abused and impoverished across Canada, is hosting several events in the Toronto area to support menstrual hygiene awareness:
Purse-packing parties on Saturday, June 2 and 9, on the east and west ends of the city
Mini fund-raising drive on Friday, June 8, at Tokki, 3124, Dundas St., W. in Toronto. They'll be collecting tampons, large purses and backpacks.
And, remember, Lunapads created the program One4Her in partnership with AFRIpads. A portion of Lunapads' gross annual sales plus customer donations goes toward projects that support menstrual and reproductive health in Uganda. That means you're making a difference just by shopping Lunapads. How cool is that?
How are you getting involved in menstrual hygiene awareness? We'd love to hear about how you're making a difference in your community. Hit us up on Facebook or on Twitter @lunapads and let us know!
Cover image courtesy of The Homeless Period.
Mika Doyle is a writer and poet whose work has appeared in Bitch Media, Role/Reboot, and Everyday Feminism (under a pseudonym). Follow her on Twitter at @mikadoyle and visit her website at mikadoyle.com.


text:
Q: ошибка компиляции C2228 в std::vector Имеется программа, парсящая csv файл:
#include <iostream>
#include <ctime>
#include <vector>
#include <string>
#include <sstream>
#include <fstream>

struct JournalEntry {
    tm time;
    std::vector<std::string> data;
};

int main() {
    std::ifstream file("file.csv");
    std::vector<JournalEntry> journal;
    std::string buf;

    //skip 1st line
    std::string rawLine;
    std::getline(file, rawLine);

    while (std::getline(file, rawLine)) {
        JournalEntry je;
        std::stringstream ss(rawLine);
        while (std::getline(ss, buf, ',')) {
            je.data.push_back(buf);
        }
        journal.push_back(je);
    }
    std::cout << journal.size() << std::endl;
    std::cout << journal.data.size() << std::endl;
    return 0;
}

Все парсится хорошо и укладывается в структуру, но когда я вызываю journal.data.size(), получаю ошибку компиляции C2228 (выражение слева от .size должно представлять класс, структуру или объединение). Не могу понять, что вызывает эту ошибку.
Вроде бы у меня что-то близкое к этой проблеме, но все равно причина не очень ясна.

A: journal является вектором, а в строке journal.data.size() вы видимо ходите обратиться к элементу вектора, а не к вектору. Вам необходимо указать индекс элемента вектора, например так:
std::cout << journal[0].data.size() << std::endl;

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaStackExchange


We have no idea when our last day will be. Trust in God. Value what you have. VOTE. Participate in change, do not let others change your world. Keep moving even if there is a struggle, you WILL overcome, and progress will be made. Love those who persecute you. It is now up to me.
These are the lessons I learned over the past week. Ultimately it is I that has to �be the change I want to see in the world.� The encompassing theme that keeps coming back is that it is up to the present generation to take up the issues today and make a change. I have been always reminded that voting is very important, but this trip has produced a new passion for my own rights. I want to be more informed about what is happening in my city, state, and country. Former Selma mayor James Perkins said, �Everything in our lives is affected by an elected official.� How can I not pay attention or care about the politics and issues that are happening around me? I have faulty excuses such as �I do not have time for that� or �since I am not that interested, why should I pay attention� or �I am just one person, just one vote.� The fact of the matter is that if everyone has the same mentality such as this, then no one would step up and then nothing would get done. You always matter as an individual and you could be the deciding factor in many elections that could change your status of living directly.


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15 Riverdale Avenue
The building is located on the south bank of the Charles River, near the Watertown line.
53,000 SF Bldg
319 Newburyport Turnpike
Rowley, MA 01969
107 Mountain Avenue
107 Mountain Avenue is a single-story, 17,933-square foot flex building located in Malden, MA. The property, which currently operates as a post office, is fully leased to the United States Postal Service (USPS) through February 2016 with a three-yea...
An 85,100-square foot renovated office building which includes 13,197 square feet of retail space on the ground level.
10,047 - 11,425 SF
A 40-story building with a flame-cut granite exterior located adjacent to Government Center and Fanueil Hall which was recently fully renovated.
2,100 - 17,555 SF
570,040 SF Bldg
46 Martin Road
Highly visible 46 acre land site with +/- 1,600 feet of frontage along Route 101 (offering direct visibility) and +/- 2,000 feet of frontage along Martin Road. Located just off Route 101 (105,000 ADT) near the Exit 7 Interchange and Route 125. Adjace...
1 lot
2,003,760 SF / 46 AC
300 South River Road is a prime 13.26-acre land site situated on South River Road / Route 3 in affluent Bedford, New Hampshire. Located in the Performance Zone along one of New Hampshire's major North-South arteries, the site offers toll free access ...
577,606 SF / 13.26 AC
22 Continental Drive - Garrison Glen Corporate Park
Garrison Glen Corporate Park, located in Exeter, NH is a highly desirable, suburban business park located just ten minutes from Portsmouth, NH. There are four lots remaining, ranging in size from approximately ten to twenty acres each of highly devel...
50 Robert Milligan Parkway
The 42.99 acres site is well located, just south of Exit 10, Industrial Drive, with excellent visibility and more than 2,000 feet of frontage along the F.E. Everett Turnpike. This site is one of the few remaining sites along the F.E. Everett Turnpike...
1,872,645 SF / 42.99 AC
2 East Spit Brook Road - River Landing
Riverlanding is located just beyond the intersection of Spit Brook Road and Daniel Webster Highway, considered the corner of Main & Main in the South Nashua retail corridor. Spit Brook Road provides immediate access to Route 3 via Exit 1. Immedia...
1,799,028 SF / 41.3 AC
273 Lowell Road
Hudson, NH 03051
13.7 acres located just over the Massachusetts border off Exit 2 of Route 3 in Hudson, New Hampshire. The site offers excellent access to Route 3 / FE Everett Turnpike via Exits 1 and 2, and a wide variety of area amenities including the Spit Bro...
Iron Horse Park
Iron Horse Park is the Upper Valley's premier new development opportunity. Located near the I-89 and I-91 interchange at the NH/VT border and just north of the Lebanon Municipal Airport, the site is divisible and may be purchased in separate parcels....
4,724,082 SF / 108.45 AC
15 Integra Drive
15 Integra Drive is a rare opportunity to own one of the last large development sites in Concord. This 54.98 acre site is located at the end of Integra Drive across from the NH Lottery Commission. All municipal utilities including natural gas are ava...
10-14 Tyler Street - Ames Business Park
Ames Business Park consists of 14 attached and detached, one and two story, industrial buildings, containing a total of +/- 293,966 sf of gross building area. The buildings range in age from 1910 to 1994.
Former office and manufacturing facility for JPSA and IPG Photonics, this outstanding property is available for SALE OR LEASE. The original 31,622 SF two-story brick office and classroom building was constructed in 1975 for the University of New ...
24 Dane Street - Ames Business Park
6,314 SF Bldg
20 Continental Drive - Garrison Glen Corporate Center
4 Blackfan Circle - Harvard Institute of Medicine
The former Boston English High School, purchased by Harvard University for $13.3 Million from the BRA. It is a 10 story, 300,000 SF medical/research building in the heart of Longwood
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Home / Headlines / House passes Manipur Public Servants' Personal Liability (Amendment) Bill, 2013
House passes Manipur Public Servants' Personal Liability (Amendment) Bill, 2013
IMPHAL, July 4: The 10th Manipur Legislative Assembly today passed the "The Manipur Public Servants' Personal Liability (Amendment) Bill, 2013 during the last day of its 5th session. The amendment bill was tabled by state Chief Minister Okram Ibobi Singh on the floor of the House.
During discussion on the only business of the day, Oinam MLA Dr I Ibohalbi Singh and Keishamthong MLA L Ibomcha Singh placed their observations on the floor of the House. They observed that that they are not appealing for amendment to the Bill, but seeking a clarification from the state Chief Minister.
Replying to the observations from the MLAs, state Chief Minister said that the Manipur Public Servants' Personal Liability (Amendment) Act, 2013 was enforced since 2006 with efforts now to amend some portions.
He continued that even though the Act was enforced since 2006, it will be applied from four years prior to the Act being enforced.
The CM went on to say that there are cases involving around Rs 20 crores in financial liabilities and added that the total number of cases is 28 out which, 17 are in process.
Action will be taken up against all officials involved in the cases without any impartiality for which there will be High Power Committees, he said.
One of the committees will be headed by the Chief Secretary and the other will be headed by the Chief Minister, he said before adding that the Chief Minister led team will have two Ministers under him and two other officials as member and it will have a minimum of five members.
He said the cases are mainly from the Education (S), Health Services, Rural Development & Panchayati Raj, Minorities & Other Backward Classes, Power Dept, etc.
The Chief Minister further continued that 50 percent of the monthly pay of the officials involved in the said cases will be deducted while for the pensioners, one-third of their pensions will be deducted.
It may be mentioned that the "The Manipur Public Servants' personal Liability Act, 2006 (Manipur Act No 8 of 2006) was given assent by the state Governor on April 7, 2006 and the Extra-Ordinary Manipur Gazette Notification was issued on April 13, 2006.
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