US high school students have protested against the decision to deny free tampons in their school bathrooms by baking "tampon cookies" for the male principal.
The seventh-grade students [year eight] had advocated for their school to stock free menstrual products, but their motion was shut down by the unidentified principal.
President of NARAL Pro-Choice America, Ilyse Hogue, tweeted a picture of the seventh grader's tampon-inspired work, which included strings and red icing.
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"My friend's 7th grader [year eight] goes to a school where the kids organised for free tampons in the bathroom," Hogue wrote on Wednesday (local time).
"The male principal said no because they would 'abuse the privilege'. The kids decided to stage a cookie protest.
"Behold the tampon cookies!"
The principal's stance drew criticism on social media, with one self-proclaimed reproductive rights activist questioning how the girls could "abuse" tampons.
"Abuse them how? Is there a high street value for them? Are they going to overdose? Use a super when they could have made do with a light? Are pads just a gateway? Next [thing] you know they will be on DivaCups," she joked.
"Only a dude would think tampons are a privilege," commented another.
The tweet has since gone viral, with more than 59,000 likes and 9000 retweets.
The school which denied the student's proposal for free sanitary products has yet to be identified.
A KidsCan survey in 2018 revealed one in four women struggle to afford sanitary items in New Zealand, with just under 25 percent saying they've missed school or work due to inadequate access to sanitary products.
On Monday, it was revealed that New Zealand's Minister for Women, Julie Anne Genter, lobbied ministerial colleagues to tackle the country's period poverty.
It appears there may have been a Budget bid for funding of sanitary items - but there was no cash for period poverty in Budget 2019.
In the US, the State of the Period survey found one in five American teens "have struggled to afford period products or were not able to purchase them at all".
Newshub.
