PINK BOX AT THE UW
The University of Warsaw has joined the social campaign Pink Box.
This is a campaign to place boxes of sanitary pads and tampons in women’s toilets. They serve as an additional support for people who do not happen to have personal hygiene products with them. The Pink Boxes aim to make it easier for female students, postgraduates and employees to function at the university and take care of their mental comfort. They also provide support for the less well-off, for whom the purchase of personal hygiene products is a significant expense.
The UW’s involvement in this campaign is a signal to the academic community and beyond that the university cares about the wellbeing and welfare of those who study and work here.
The aim of the campaign is to combat menstrual taboos and exclusion.
What is menstrual poverty?
This is a topic that is still too rarely addressed. According to the most common definition, it refers to limited access to hygiene products for menstruating people. The problem can be permanent or temporary.
It affects menstruating people who, for various reasons, find themselves in a difficult financial situation, including:
- people from dysfunctional families/relationships;
- young people in conflict with their parents/guardians;
- people who have lost their jobs;
- divorced persons, often raising children on their own.
Temporary or permanent financial problems result in difficult access to sanitary pads/tampons. This, unfortunately, often results in having to make difficult choices: what to buy – hygiene products or food?
In Poland, nearly 500 000 people cannot afford to buy sanitary pads or tampons.
At many faculties (list below), in the University Library, dormitories and student government buildings, you can already find Pink Boxes, in bathrooms marked with a sticker.
The Pink Boxes at the UW are also on social media – we recommend the hashtags #zawszepodręką #dlamniedlaciebie #rozowaskrzyneczkaUW oraz #athand #4me4you #pinkboxUW
The Pink Box is a social campaign – it is based on mutual support.
We encourage:
- to use when you need to
- and share personal hygiene products when you have the opportunity, adding them to the boxes.
Where can you find the Pink Boxes?
Currently, there are 63 Pink Boxes at the University of Warsaw and more are coming!
You can find them here:
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- Auditorium Maximum
- Institute of Social Prevention and Resocialization
- Institute of Theoretical Physics, Faculty of Physics
- Faculty of Archeology
- Faculty of Biology
- Faculty of Sociology
- Faculty of Philosophy
- Faculty of Physics
- Faculty of Political Science and International Affairs
- Faculty of Polish Studies
- Faculty of Mathematics, Computer Science and Mechanics
- Faculty of Geography and Regional Studies
- Faculty of Psychology
- Faculty of Economic Sciences
- Faculty of Oriental Studies
- Faculty of Law and Administration
- Faculty of Journalism, Information and Bibliology
- Faculty of History
- Faculty of Culture and Art Sciences
- Faculty of Management
- College of Interdisciplinary Individual Studies in the Humanities and Social Sciences (MISH)
- Center for European Regional and Local Studies (EUROREG)
- University Library (BUW)
- UW Student Union buildings and student dormitories
- Migration Research Center
- Digital Competence Center of the University of Warsaw
- Sports and Recreation Center of the University of Warsaw
Would you like to join the Pink Box campaign?
Write: rownouprawnienie@uw.edu.pl