We are organising ONE FINAL TAMPON TAX DEMO on the 21 May 2016 outside Westminster at 12 midday. Here's why WE NEED YOU to join us:
The tampon tax. It's STILL a 'thing.' A sexist, illogical and inequitable policy. Last November George Osborne pledged to end the tampon tax. In March, the European Union relaxed regulations that once prevented him from doing so. Despite Osborne's new-found freedom from EU red tape, he STILL hasn't followed through with his pledge. Sanitary pads, tampons and menstrual cups remain taxed at 5% here in the UK and our government doesn't seem to be interested in making that final step to change this. PERIOD.
BUT THERE'S SOMETHING YOU CAN DO ABOUT IT!
Since I started the change.org 'Stop Taxing Periods' campaign two years ago, our protests, demonstrations and fearless campaigning have forced Government action on countless occasions. People power is alive. We can make change happen.
The fight is also happening in the United States - where it is being waged 40 times over, in each of the states that refuse to exempt menstrual products from sales tax. The organiser of the US campaign, Jennifer Weiss-Wolf, is coming to join us in London. Her work has succeeded in getting 14 states and three major US cities to introduce legislation this year to eliminate the tampon tax. She's written about it for The New York Times, Newsweek, TIME, Cosmopolitan, Ms. Magazine and many others.
Together we are a powerful force! Our combined efforts have already rallied major political figures including President Obama and David Cameron to speak out against the tampon tax. Here in the UK, we have changed EU law in a way that has been unprecedented in EU history. We have jumped through all of the hoops that have been foisted upon us. The time has come to make final the decision to end tampon tax. NOW.
On 21 May 2016 we are organising ONE HUGE FINAL DEMO to rally up Osborne and remind him that we know he hasn't finished his job. He needs to end this tax once and for all. We have done the hard work, and now he needs to sign on the dotted line.
The theme of the day is British-US Alliance on Unfair Taxation. When The Daily Show covered the issue recently they included a funny spoof of "what men do when they revolt against unfair taxes" and cut from the Boston Tea Party to an image of women tossing cartons of tampons overboard. We are the REVOLUTION!
Our overarching goal: to raise awareness of the issue of the tampon tax - in the UK the US and around the globe - and to highlight our productive cross-pond, collaboration. And our immediate goal: to demand that the UK's tampon tax be eliminated once and for all!
Written by Laura Coryton and Jennifer Weiss-Wolf, our US sister petition starter and all-round tampon tax campaigning superhero.