Eliminating the tax on personal hygiene products: A necessary change for social justice

Taxing personal hygiene products, and especially menstrual products, is not just a matter of price. It is a matter of social and gender justice. The financial burden hits lower-income women hardest, as the costs accumulate over their lifetime.

Menstrual products, despite being essential hygiene items, are taxed at a rate of 24%, limiting access to them and leading many women to choose lower quality products that can cause irritation or infections. At the same time, the lack of access affects daily life, education and professional life: girls are absent from school and women from work due to a lack of necessary products.

The social dimension is equally important: excessive taxation reinforces stereotypes and stigma around periods, turning a basic human issue into an obstacle to gender equality.

At Flower Organic we work to inform policymakers and raise public awareness about the effects of excessive taxation. European countries such as France, Ireland and the UK have already reduced or abolished tax on menstrual products, while the European Parliament is calling on all member states to implement exemptions or zero VAT.

Eliminating or reducing the tax is not just an economic necessity – it is a moral obligation of society towards all women. By implementing it, social justice will be strengthened, health and quality of life will be improved, and the stereotypes that accompany menstruation will be broken. No hygiene product should be taxed as a luxury!