The Rectorate has decided to provide free menstrual products in toilet facilities during a pilot phase in 2025. The offer is primarily aimed at students and was launched on the initiative of the AStA student union and the university’s Gender Equality Officer.
The dispensers will be accessible to everyone in public toilets at the University of Cologne. All-gender toilets are included in the offer and barrier-free toilets have also been taken into account when selecting locations.
The Rectorate has approved a budget of € 13,000 for this undertaking. At the end of the test phase, its success will be evaluated in cooperation with AStA and the Gender Equality Officer.
The ‘Focus Topic: Menstruation’ survey by Plan International showed that it is financially difficult for almost a quarter of menstruating women in Germany to obtain adequate supplies of pads and tampons. This problem is also known as period poverty. According to the survey, young women are most affected by period poverty, with almost three quarters of 16 to 25-year-olds being in a better position to take care of themselves if hygiene products are cheaper. Additional restrictions arise from fears of finding a poorly equipped or dirty toilet outside the home, so that one in four people menstruating would prefer to stay at home during their period.
The pilot project is being realized by AStA, the team of the Central Gender Equality Officer and the Division for Facility and Property Management.
Menstrual products can also be made available to employees free of charge in staff or office toilets. Cost centre managers will be able to order menstrual products via the relevant framework contract partner of the University of Cologne and place them in the toilets. The costs for the purchase of the products will be borne by the respective cost centre itself.