News

Free menstrual articles at the RUB
Pilot project launched

Since 29 September 2022, tampon dispensers have been installed in a total of five toilets in the StudentServiceCenter (SSC) and the Lecture Hall Centre East HZO, which provide free menstrual products via a touch-free dispenser. The project was initiated by the student working group "Free menstrual products" in cooperation with members from the administration, the chancellor Dr. Christina Reinhardt and the RUB Equal Opportunities Officer Friederike Bergstedt. The students' core concerns are the removal of taboos surrounding the topic of menstruation, financial relief for students and barrier-free availability of menstrual products. With the installation of the tampon dispensers in the ladies' and gents' toilets, the RUB working group is addressing an important aspect: Not only cis women menstruate, but also inter, trans and non-binary people.

Scotland has already been providing period products free of charge in schools since 2021 and now also in all other educational institutions and municipal facilities, and pilot projects have also been launched in cities such as Heidelberg and Erlangen in recent months. We welcome the growing attention that the public is paying to the topic of menstruation and are pleased that such a pilot project is also running at RUB.

The RUB Equal Opportunities Officers Maria Brinkmeyer and Friederike Bergstedt also explain: "Raising awareness about menstruation is also the aim of the pilot project. For the fact that about half of all people are regularly affected by it over a long period of their lives, the topic is not very present in public and is also tainted with shame. With the tampon dispensers, we want to counteract this taboo of menstruation. If tampons are available as a matter of course as toilet paper and soap, this will hopefully take some of the shame away from the subject."

Catcalls of Bochum

Catcalling - the unsolicited harassment of people in public spaces by calling after them or whistling at them - is a reality of life for many people. Catcalling is transgressive behavior and verbal sexual harassment. Examples include comments like "Hey, horny a** or whistles on the street. Affected are often, but not exclusively female read persons* [explanation of terms: see below).

Catcalls of Bochum raise awareness about the topic on their Instagram page and publish reports of their experiences, which they also write on the street with chalk under the #ankreiden. They deliberately choose the place where the verbal assault also took place. The page is part of the global chalk back movement, which uses street art, social media, and education to raise awareness about assaultive verbal behavior on the streets. The goal of the movements is to denormalize catcalling and make it understood that it is not "compliments" but assaultive behavior that should be judged as such.

What are your experiences with catcalling on campus?  If you want, report them directly on Instagram to catcallsofbochum.

For those interested: Here is the link to Chalk back, the Instagram profile of Catcalls of Bochum and the action TakeBackTheNight.