Manifestation contre le TVA (the tampon tax protest)

On the night of the 14th-15th November, the Assemblée National rejected requests to lower the tax on “feminine hygiene products (tampons, pads, etc) down from 20% to 5.5%. Protesters reacted accordingly. 

The “normal” tax rate in France is 20% by default. A reduced rate of 5.5% applies to “les produits de première nécessité” – water, food, alcohol-free drinks, books, cinema, condoms, sweets… Just to put that in perspective, Coca Cola is taxed at 5.5%. And you don’t need Coca Cola for you to feel more hygienic, or to stop people being disgusted by your bodily functions. And yes, it’s great that condoms are at the reduced rate for tax (and can also be acquired free of charge from some places), but as many people have already said, it’s a lot harder to abstain from menstruation than it is to abstain from sex. Many people worry about the effects of birth control, or can’t take it because of medication, or just want to let their bodies do their thing. (And have you heard about the concept of each person being allowed to decide what to do with their own body?)

“let us bleed without over-taxing us”

This was the second protest I’ve been to in Paris. The first – to show support for women who had been exiled or were involved in the refugee crisis – was a little smaller but involved a lot of the same feminist groups like Osez Le Féminisme and FièrE.

It was kind of strange seeing so many people wearing the objects they were protesting about the price of. Moon cup crowns, tampon necklaces, sanitary pads with “#jesuistampon” written on them stuck to T-shirts. I was a little worried that people who saw or heard about the protest might make a point of this and deem it impractical, but it was definitely visually effective.

“no tampons without money” / “no tax on my uterus”

The protest took place at Place du Châtelet near the Hôtel de Ville and right next to one of the metro station exits. This meant there were a lot of people passing by who came over to ask questions or take photos of the placards and the washing line of period-stained pants hanging between two trees. I’m not really sure how quickly the issue of the tampon tax will be resolved, but it doesn’t hurt to draw more attention to the issue. As one man there said, “sans pression, il y a rien”. If you don’t pressure the government to change things, nothing will happen.