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🇰🇷 South Korea /Culture & Society

Free Public Sanitary Pad Program Sees High Usage, No Misuse Reported

From Hankyoreh · () Korean

Translated from Korean, summarized and contextualized by DistantNews.

At a glance

News Official statement New plan
  • South Korea's 'Public Sanitary Pad' initiative, launched a month ago, has distributed an average of 600 packs daily.
  • The Ministry of Gender Equality and Family reported no instances of misuse or abuse of the free sanitary pads.
  • The pilot program aims to improve access to menstrual hygiene products in 12 regions across the country.

South Korea's initiative to provide free sanitary pads in public spaces has seen significant usage in its first month, with an average of 600 packs distributed daily across 12 pilot regions. The Ministry of Gender Equality and Family reported that the program, dubbed 'Everyone's Sanitary Pad,' has not encountered any instances of misuse.

Launched on July 2nd, the pilot program aims to enhance women's health rights by ensuring easy access to menstrual hygiene products. The distributed pads are available through dispensers installed in public facilities such as libraries and youth centers. The ministry stated that approximately 294,100 packs (each containing two pads) were requested in the 12 participating areas, leading to an estimated daily consumption of around 600 packs.

While the program has been operational for a month, the ministry noted that the actual usage appears slightly lower than the initial delivery requests. This observation has led the ministry to consider strengthening promotional efforts to increase awareness and utilization of the service. Currently, 300 manual dispensers have been installed as planned, with 132 automatic dispensers deployed in eight regions. The ministry plans to complete the installation of all 300 automatic dispensers by August and add another 100 by September.

So far, we have not found any cases of abuse, which we had worried about.

— Ministry of Gender Equality and Family OfficialReporting on the initial findings of the 'Public Sanitary Pad' pilot program.

Officials expressed that while the number of dispensers is still being finalized, the current consumption rate suggests a need for greater public outreach. The ministry had initially estimated the total supply for the year at 6.5 million packs. The positive feedback regarding the absence of misuse is encouraging, but the ministry believes further promotion is necessary to ensure the program meets its intended reach and impact.

The pilot regions include various districts in Seoul and Gyeonggi Province, as well as locations in South Chungcheong, Daejeon, North Jeolla, South Jeolla, North Gyeongsang, South Gyeongsang, and Jeju provinces. The highest demand for pads has been observed in Mokpo City, South Jeolla Province, and Gwangmyeong City, Gyeonggi Province.

We believe there is a need to increase public awareness of the project.

— Ministry of Gender Equality and Family OfficialSuggesting a need for enhanced promotion despite the absence of misuse.
DistantNews Editorial

Originally published by Hankyoreh in Korean. Translated, summarized, and contextualized by our editorial team with added local perspective. Read our editorial standards.

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