In France, 1.7 million women are affected by menstrual precariousness. In 2020, the government launched on an experimental basis the distribution of periodical protection for women in precarious situations. Tara Heuzé, president and founder of Elementary Rules, Gaële Le Noane, creator of the start-up Marguerite & Cie, and Ondine Beccaria, project manager at Gina, present their initiatives to fight this phenomenon and help lift the taboo of rules.
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Basic Rules: free collection and distribution of hygienic protection for women in precarious situations
Tara Heuzé had the idea to found Basic Rules after a trip to England where she participated in collections of hygienic products. "It really shocked and challenged me because I never thought about these women on the street who had to manage their period," she recalls. Returning to France, she imported the initiative and launched Elementary Rules in 2015 because she noticed that no one, not even healthcare professionals, had asked themselves the question. The student of the time then launched her first collections at the time of the second review of the law on the lowering of VAT on intimate hygiene products and the famous debate on the "buffer tax" which "really put in light the cost of these protections, "she notes.
Tara Heuzé created the association in 2016 and now receives parcels from all over France and abroad. In France, on average, periodic protection costs each woman 18 euros per month. On average, a woman will use 10,000 periodic protections during her lifetime. A cost which sometimes leads the most precarious to do without it.
Elementary Rules has created a citizen platform. "With a few clicks, anyone can go to our website and organize their own collection, which will then be referenced on our website, and on social networks," says its founder. "Everyone will receive personalized communication visuals, donation boxes. You put what you can give," she explains.
The association accepts all intimate hygiene products "including reusable protections because beyond the environmental and ecological aspect, it is a way to end dependence on donations for future beneficiaries of these products "Tara Heuzé believes. "We also take everything that is wipe and hydroalcoholic gel because it is important to have good menstrual hygiene and wash your hands before using these products."
The association manages everything and has a network of collection organizers all over France, also in Belgium, and soon Switzerland, Luxembourg and Canada. "We have forged redistributive partnerships. The first historically was the Samu social de Paris. Today they are the Red Cross and the Restos du Coeur. And we will redispatch according to their needs because we did not want to multiply the points of contacts for women in need, "adds Tara Heuzé.
Marguerite & Cie: distributors of organic and free hygienic protections in schools, universities and businesses
Gaële Le Noane, the creator of the start-up Marguerite & Cie, has patented a distributor of free and organic hygienic protections installed in schools, universities and businesses. This former speech therapist had the idea in 2017 after the revelations of studies on the composition of tampons and towels. "It clearly shocked me. I told myself that something had to be done because there are 100% organic tampons. So I first launched a box, which was already united," she explains. .
Worried of seeing this menstrual precariousness, she decides, for any box purchased, to give a box to an association in Paris: ADSF (Agir pour le Développement de la Santé des Femmes), which distributes hygiene kits to homeless women . "This box worked well but I wanted to go further," she said. She decided to create distributors of 100% organic tampons, zero chlorine, zero fragrance, zero plastic because the most used pads are made from cotton and wood but undergo chemical treatments during manufacturing. She signs an exclusive contract with the Englishman Natracare, the leader in organic tampons, made from cotton and cellulose only.
To create this distributor, Gaële Le Noane explains that he "went through a lot of drawings and tests with wooden and cardboard prototypes to make it as simple as possible" and that he "patented the refill system that fits inside" . "We don't handle the products. The hygienic side is preserved," she says. "When the refill is empty, we remove it. It's also biodegradable PEFC cardboard. We slip another one. It's as simple for staff as refilling the roll of toilet paper in universities, colleges and high schools." "It's the Nespresso of tampons and pads," she says.
Gaële Le Noane started installing its distributors last September and is currently equipping "around thirty schools". "150,000 young girls and women have access to it," she said. Structures that rent or buy the distributor equipped with 300 products for 55 euros. "We also have companies like the SNCF," she adds. His start-up receives "between five and ten requests per day from schools or establishments".
Gina: kits to lift the taboo of rules
The co-founders of the media group My Little Paris wanted to lift the taboos on the rules after having noticed the reactions on social networks of many of their five million subscribers to their articles concerning the rules. They then launched a large survey in order to "better understand the relationship of women to their periods and their bodies. Among the responses, more than one in two women still considered that the rules were dirty and that the less we talked about, the better it was ", recounts Ondine Beccaria, project manager at Gina, the company founded subsequently with the aim of breaking down the rules.
"It made us aware of the taboo that existed around the rules and around the body of women, problems with the classic protections present on the market," said Ondine Beccaria. "With Gina, we wanted to take the opposite view of this taboo and bring an answer to both products with hygienic protections in 100% certified organic cotton and an educational response with different levers," she said.
Gina went for periodic protections made in Spain, and not bleached with chlorine. And has also established a partnership with Sephora, where Gina has been distributing emergency mini-packs since September. "The idea of being at Sephora, it was really to put the rules on the table and to disengage the subject of the rules and to say that the composition of our skin creams is as important as that of our tampons and our towels which will be in contact with our vagina every month, "says Ondine Beccaria.
Gina also launched a "first rules kit" last September. "We realized that the moment of the first period is crucial and determines the way we are going to live our rules afterwards, whether it is the words we use to define our rules or the protections we use." In this kit, young girls can find protections and a 40-page booklet "co-written with a gynecologist in which we anatomically explain what is happening in our body at that time" and "30 pages anti-taboo to tear up for parents and boyfriends to help young girls live rules without taboos, "explains the project manager. A similar idea had been launched by Ma Louloute in the infirmaries of certain educational establishments.
Gina also organized a month of conferences dedicated to first periods. "We welcomed young girls and dads. We had a course for young girls given by a gynecologist and a course for dads to inform them about their role in ensuring that their daughters live their periods without taboos all their lives."
Gina and Elementary Rules have also joined forces: Gina has participated in several physical collections with the association and "donates 1% of its turnover in the form of donations to Elementary Rules".