Editorial: Week 2, Semester 1 2023
The feature this week grapples with menstrual inequity on campus, ranging from available period products to regulatory support. Surprise, there is barely any.
Cover design by Bipasha Chakraborty.
Health equity is far from being reached. The system is convoluted, corrupt and inaccessible. The word ‘health’ itself has a broad definition, which can be used in many contexts, ranging from physical health, emotional health to environmental health. For this edition, I wanted to amplify and highlight student voices on their experiences with ‘health.’
In this edition, you’ll find a range of pieces ranging from spiking explainers by Jo Staas (p.12), the emotional experience with caring by Nafeesa Rahman (p.16), to a raw exploration of intergenerational trauma by Ethan Floyd (p.15), accompanied by Yasodara Puhule’s incredible artwork.
Over the past few years, we’ve seen changes being made to the mental health care plan, multiple nurse strikes, and increasing health care privatisation. Individuals’ own intersecting identities can lead to lucky or unfortunate experiences with health, which need to be addressed and reformed. The system is failing to accommodate all, especially in the context of the worsening of climate change.
The confronting images of bloody pads and tampons on the cover are there to make you stop and think of the menstrual inequity that exists both on campus and globally. The feature this week grapples with menstrual inequity on campus, ranging from available period products to regulatory support. Surprise, there is barely any.
I had first noticed free pads and tampons being available in the bathrooms of Abercrombie in my first year, and since have kept an eye out for other bathrooms, though limited, that have stocked the essential goods. Thank you to all the societies on campus that use their funding to help and provide for others.
I hope this piece gives you useful information for yourself or friends to use, and hope for the university to soon provide better menstrual care and support.
Thank you to all the doctors, nurses, psychiatrists, paramedics, teachers, and many more who continue to contribute and support the decrepit health care system. Thank you reader for picking up this week’s paper, and I hope you get the chance to learn, empathise and enjoy yourself in this edition.