Is it blue everything that bleeds?

A policy brief on menstrual products: economic and environmental (in) justice in Spain.

This policy brief addresses the issue of taxation on menstrual products in Spain and its environmental and economic impact . In 2022, with the 1/2023 Law from 28th February (Ley Orgánica 1/2023, de 28 de febrero, por la que se modifica la Ley Orgánica 2/2010, de 3 de marzo, de salud sexual y reproductiva y de la interrupción voluntaria del embarazo, 2023), the Spanish progressive government reduced the value added tax (VAT) on menstrual products from 10% to 4%, aiming to promote social and feminist justice. However, this policy has faced challenges due to regional disparities, lack of a comprehensive approach that could cover every vulnerable group, and lacks implementation of the environmental protection that the law states. This policy brief argues for a more exhaustive approach to taxation that ensures gender equality, economic equity, and environmental justice.

Introduction:

Menstrual products are essential for people who menstruate’ s health and well-being. The taxation of these products disproportionately affects women and perpetuates gender inequality. In Spain, a report concluded (F.Cadenas, 2022) that four out of ten people who menstruate suffer from menstrual poverty. The main risks factors stated in this menstrual poverty report are being a non-binary person, being born outside of Spain, residing in an irregular administrative situation, and having a precarious employment situation.

Scope of the problem and research

In Spain, the reduction of VAT on menstrual products was a significant step towards social and feminist justice that is seen as an example in the rest of Europe, example lead by Ireland and Malta (Buchholz, 2020), where even before 2020 menstrual products were tax exempted. On the contrary countries like Sweden, Finland, Hungary, or Greece have a 20% (or higher) VAT for these products. This tax diversity alongside Europe could increase after the Council Directive (EU) 2022/542 amending Directives 2006/112/EC and (EU) 2020/285 (Council of the European Union, 2022) as regards rates of value added tax , directive from 5 April 2022 that establish for the first time, the option for member states to apply one reduced rate lower than 5% and one exemption to a maximum of seven categories on the list considered to cover basic needs (where menstrual products are categorized). In Spain, after this Directive

was approved, the negotiations on a law to protect menstrual rights started, ending them by passing the 1/2023 Law from 28th February that stablish a decrease from 10% to 4% VAT, among other mechanisms to palliate menstrual poverty.

The other measures that this law incorporates to mitigate menstrual poverty are:

• Free distribution of menstrual products, when needed, in education centers, as well as in

penitentiary centers, and social centers in order to make them accessible to women in vulnerable situations. (Article 5 quarter).

• The use of menstrual products that are respectful with the environment (sustainable, organic, ecological, rapidly decomposing, reusable, and chemical-free) and the health of women will be encouraged by the public political authorities (Article 5 quarter).

Policy recommendations:

1. Gender Equality and Economic Equity: why not all vulnerable people are covered? In terms of taxation system, Spanish law was passed more than 6 months after the European Union allowed countries to have tax exemptions in up to seven products under different basic needs categories. Therefore, Spain could had proposed not to tax menstrual products, as Scotland did (Patel, 2022). Another important fact is the restriction of the free distribution to educational, penitentiary, and social centers, without tackling working facilities. As a recommendation in this point, the law should be revised to include mandatory free distribution of menstrual products in the workplace to avoid vulnerable populations earning minimum wages to be excluded and suffer menstrual poverty. Another recommendation is to eliminate the tax in menstrual products, as the VAT reduction from 10% to 4% is not proportionally as significant to firmly impact menstrual poverty.

2. Regional Disparities: why a person from a specific region is more exposed to structural menstrual poverty than another from a different one? Since 2018 menstrual products (pads, tampons, panty liners, silicone cups and ecological pads) in the Spanish territory of the Canary islands are tax exempted (Cruz, 2022).It is strongly recommended to agree on an unique and global VAT applying in the whole territory of Spain that would not exacerbate economic differences between people who menstruate. Therefore, Spanish policy makers should, as reasoned in the last point, eliminate the tax in menstrual products in order to provide every person with the right to affordable menstrual products, irrespective of their geographic location.

3. Environmental Justice: why being environmentally friendly is more expensive? The law studied exposed that only “sanitary towels, tampons and panty-liners” are going to be taxed with the lowest VAT (4% VAT). Therefore, ecological products such as menstrual cups are still taxed with 10% VAT. This finding is truly shocking and a complete legal incoherence with article 5 quarter. Is this because it is strongly recommended to reevaluate the tax policy and exempting ecological products from the former VAT.

I hope you enjoyed the reading of this policy brief, or how I like to call it: another way to express why I am so obsessed when explaining that enviromental justice is a feminist issue