本文部分转载自CGTN，已获授权
近日，“散装卫生巾”这一话题冲上微博热搜，引发大量关于“月经贫困”（period poverty）的讨论。
An online post drew public attention to a poverty unique to women－period poverty. Sanitary products, which every woman needs during her period, actually pose great economic hardships on quite a few women in China.
网上一则帖子使女性特有的一种贫困引发了社会关注：月经贫困。每个女性经期都需要的卫生用品，给不少中国女性带来巨大的经济压力。
8月28日，一位网友发布了两张图片：“关于卫生巾，我也是之前偶然看到才知道原来网上还有卖散装的。”这条帖子迅速引起关注。
图片中一款100片售价仅21.99元的卫生巾引发网友担心，觉得廉价卫生巾质量不过关，而两位买家对此的回答是，“生活难”“我有难处”。
对于“散装卫生巾”的讨论，也将当今世界普遍忽视的“月经贫困”问题抛到了大众眼前。
Some people argue that a sanitary pad costs 2 yuan ($0.291) at most, and the total monthly expenditure could come to about 20 yuan, which is not a lot. However, for those who say so the price of sanitary products every month is equivalent to what they spend on a cup of coffee. And they overlook the actual income situation of a large number of people in China.
一些人表示，每片卫生巾最多花费2元钱，每月消费大概20元左右，并不是太贵。但对于说这话的人来说，这些钱跟她们买杯咖啡的钱差不多。她们忽略了中国一大部分女性的收入状况。
需要注意的是，中西部一些地区的女性收入还是要低于全国人均收入，卫生巾对于很多女性来说，还是一个沉重的负担：
The average per capita disposable income of residents in some regions in Central and West China is still markedly lower than the national average, even if almost all the people there have been lifted above the poverty line. That means their spending power has not improved as much as the change in their economic condition indicates. For such impoverished women, sanitary products pose an additional economic burden.
虽然中国几乎所有人都已摆脱了贫困，但在中国中西部的一些地区，人均可支配收入还是要低于全国人均值。这也就意味着她们的购买力还不能与其经济状况相匹配。对于一些贫困女性来讲，卫生用品是沉重的经济负担。
Period poverty has figured in online discussions, with many suggesting reduction in prices of sanitary products. Some people called for reduction in taxes on sanitary products to ease the financial burden on women, while others suggested that the government provide them for free to poor women.
月经贫困问题成为网络讨论的热点，很多人都建议降低卫生产品的价格。一些人呼吁对卫生用品减税，以此减轻女性的经济负担，也有一些人建议，对于贫困女性，政府应免费对其提供卫生用品。
“月经贫困”常指受落后观念和经济因素制约，部分女性无法在生理期获得足够的卫生用品，从而体面地度过生理期。
Period poverty is a global issue, which defines a lack of access to sanitary products due to financial constraints. According to the International Federation of Gynecology and Obstetrics, up to 500 million women and girls are living in period poverty.
月经贫困已经成为全球性问题，指的是女性因经济因素制约缺少卫生用品的现象。国际妇产科联盟（FIGO）统计的数据显示，截至2019年2月，全球有5亿名女性正在遭受“月经贫困”。
BBC曾推出过一款“月经开销计算器”，假设一位女性经期从12岁到55岁，那么她一生中需要花费1603.41英镑（约合人民币14693元）购买卫生用品。
事实上，无论是非洲、南亚还是欧美，在世界各地，每个月都有许多女孩为没有足够的卫生用品而烦恼，被迫用其他东西代替。
A report published by UNICEF and WaterAid found that more than a third of girls in South Asia miss school during their periods, mainly due to lack of access to toilets and pads in schools and no proper education about menstruation.
联合国儿童基金会和国际慈善组织“水援助组织”2018年发布的一份新报告显示，南亚地区超过三分之一的女孩在经期缺课，主要原因是学校里没有厕所和卫生巾，以及没有接受关于月经的适当教育。
印度仅36%的女性有条件使用一次性卫生巾，其余64%只能在经期使用破布、果壳、灰烬、树叶、泥土或是牛粪来处理自己的失血。
Take India, for example, where Survey statistics collected by Indian National Family Health Survey 2015-2016 estimates that roughly 36 percent of the country's menstruating females use sanitary napkins, while the rest use old rags, husk, ash, leaves, mud and soil and such other life-threatening materials to manage their flow.
而在非洲的一些国家，女孩们被迫选择通过性交易来换取卫生巾，从而得到正常上学和工作的机会。
今年6月，四川成都七中国际部的一群高中生发起了“月季计划”，筹集的12万余元能为700名大凉山昭觉县女生提供一整年的卫生巾。
下一步，他们还将为当地的青春期女生组织经期卫生方面的讲座。
In June, students from the Stand TogetHer organization of a high school in southwest China's Chengdu have launched a program to donate menstrual pads to teenage girls in Zhaojue county, one of the poorest areas in China. They raised around 17,500 US dollars online in just two days, providing a whole year's worth of pads for 700 girls.
此外，阿里公益和腾讯公益等也都有相关的活动，为贫困地区的女性提供干净的内衣裤、经期卫生用品、生理卫生知识小课本等。
Making note of and admitting to a problem is the first step toward solving it. Similarly, eliminating period poverty will require comprehensive discussion and investigation, but it is good to see that the issue is finally being addressed and drawing public attention.
关注并承认这一问题是解决问题的第一步。相似地，消除月经贫困需要更加广泛的讨论和调查，但是这一问题终于被拿出来讨论并引起公众关注，是一件好事。
Society should pay greater attention to the needs of impoverished women, particularly make basic sanitary products available to them.
社会需要更多地看到贫困妇女的需求，尤其是为她们提供基础的卫生用品。
关于这个话题，你有什么看法，欢迎留言分享。
编辑：李雪晴
综合来源：CGTN 中国日报
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