Sanitary pads as a public service: Incheon City to make them available free at public facilities starting next year

【Financial News, Incheon = Reporter Han Gab-soo】 People who suddenly start menstruating and find themselves without sanitary pads will be able to get them free of charge at public facilities. The initiative treats sanitary pads not just as hygiene products that individuals must prepare for themselves, but as everyday essentials that anyone can access when needed, bringing them into the realm of public services. Incheon City said on the 10th that it would launch the “Public Sanitary Pad Support Project,” installing sanitary pad dispensers at administrative welfare centers, libraries, youth and sports facilities, and other locations starting next year.
This universal support program is available to anyone who needs sanitary pads, regardless of income or age. Each dispenser provides a pack containing two medium-sized sanitary pads, which users can take at no cost.
A total of about 2.8 billion won will be allocated to the project, including national government funding from the Ministry of Gender Equality and Family. Incheon City and its counties and districts will carry it out jointly. After each county and district finalizes the installation locations, the dispensers will begin operating in phases, starting at facilities that are ready.
To make the service easier to use, the city and its counties and districts will post dispenser locations on their websites and put up notices at facility entrances. They will use the dispensers’ stock-monitoring function to prevent shortages and plan to adjust installation locations and the quantities stocked based on usage and feedback from residents.
“Since sanitary pads are everyday essentials that everyone needs, we will work hard to prepare for and operate the project so people can access them without any burden at a nearby location when they need them,” said Kyung Sun Kim, director of Incheon City’s Women and Family Bureau.

[email protected] Han Gab-soo Reporter