Woman On Twitter Slams Istanbul Airport For Not Having Menstrual Hygiene Products, Finds Out It’s Nothing New. Isn’t It Like A First World Country?
We’ve all had moments when we suddenly got our periods only to realise that we’re not carrying any menstrual hygiene product with us, hai na? We’ve had moments when we had to ask other women or rush to a pharmacy to get a pad or a tampon or anything that can keep us going. But what if you were stuck in a place with a pharmacy with no pads or tampons or any pad/tampon vending machine? That’s really a nightmare, no? And this nightmare turned reality for a woman. Recently, a woman shared her harrowing experience at Istanbul airport where there wasn’t a single pharmacy or shop that sells pads or tampons.
To set a scene that I think many people might recognise, I unexpectedly found myself without my chosen menstrual hygiene method in the airport between two long flights. 2/
— Erin Law (@erinplaw) October 17, 2022
Taking to Twitter, the woman recalled the ordeal and revealed that she was at the Istanbul International airport. Sharing that she was at the airport between 2 long flights when she realised that she did not have chosen menstrual hygiene products and so she thought of finding a store at the airport that sells any period product that may keep her going. But to her absolute horror, after much struggle and she and her husband realised that there couldn’t find a single convenience store or pharmacy which was rather weird. After running around across terminals they found a duty-free store with a pharmacy but to their shock, the store did not have tampons or pads and even after asking at the information kiosk, they couldn’t get any information. The couple then went to a bigger information desk and were connected to a pharmacy via the “emergency medical phone”. Well, we women bleed every single month and for us, periods are not an emergency which also means that menstrual hygiene products are pretty much essential product for us and for an international airport to not have a single period product is not just shocking but also shameful.
No biggie right? It’s a massive airport. I could buy a $2000 bottle of alcohol, a novelty drone, a romance novel or a souvenir ashtray. Surely, terminal A, B, C, D or F has a TAMPON? 4/
— Erin Law (@erinplaw) October 17, 2022
I ask a young guy at a duty free store where a pharmacy is. He says there are none. Because he is rude I ask him where I might get a tampon. He says it’s not possible. I laugh. Because he must just be a silly person. Right? 6/
— Erin Law (@erinplaw) October 17, 2022
So now, we are rushing to a desk in the opposite direction from our gate.
At this point I start thinking tampons are the issue. Like some countries where only pads are allowed. But to be clear, this is not the issue. You can get tampons in Turkey. 8/
— Erin Law (@erinplaw) October 17, 2022
So then we get to the big info desk. Where a man tells me I have to use the emergency phone to the pharmacy. I feel dumb calling an emergency medical phone because BLEEDING is something I do normally. But I have no choice. 10/
— Erin Law (@erinplaw) October 17, 2022
Further, the Twitter user revealed that the man on the other side had problems with communicating in English and put another guy on who said he could get her tampons and she could pay via card, only to arrive a little while later with panty liners instead. Well, what a disappointment. When the woman asked him for tampons again, he says he can get them and asks for $20 (about Rs. 1600) for a pack of tampons and tell her that she has to now pay by cash. The couple went to the nearest ATM to withdraw cash and upon showing the man the money, he goes and gets her a packet of tampons. Just FYI, a normal pack of tampons would ideally cost $3 (about Rs. 250).
He puts another guy on. This guy says he can get me tampons as if I’m asking him to hook me up with a line of coke. He says I can pay with card and they will arrive in 15minutes. Our flight is already boarding. 12/
— Erin Law (@erinplaw) October 17, 2022
A man arrives with a little plastic bag. He pulls out…drum roll please…PANTY LINERS.
My husband, thinks we’ve hit jackpot. I have to say to the guy that no, I need tampons, and then explain to my husband that panty liners are NOT useful in this situation. 14/
— Erin Law (@erinplaw) October 17, 2022
Also Read: Women On Reddit Discuss The Best Sleeping Position During Periods And It’s Heartbreaking!
So he’s walking us through the airport to get to an ATM. As we walk my husband is trying to explain to him that about half of the people in the airport would bleed so why is this the system, how is this normal? He is getting righteously angry as I get quietly enraged. 16/
— Erin Law (@erinplaw) October 17, 2022
He finally emerges. He hands us a packet of tampons that would normally cost $3. We pay the equivalent of $21 instead of $20 because he shows us he has many currencies in his wallet but not the right change and we have to leave to get to the gate. 18/
— Erin Law (@erinplaw) October 17, 2022
I think I feel dumb because part of my job is to figure out how to tackle period poverty, to reach girls who can almost never access menstrual hygiene products so they don’t miss school. And they feel shame about their periods and about their bodies and they shouldn’t. 20/
— Erin Law (@erinplaw) October 17, 2022
But it’s also dumb that by whatever logic Turkey decides to stock their airport, my needs, and the needs of many like me, nearly 50% of the world’s population, don’t count. And not counting, in this fancy airport, or in a small village in Malawi is altogether a big problem. 22/
— Erin Law (@erinplaw) October 17, 2022
All of this to say, I should not be embarrassed, Istanbul airport @igairport should be embarrassed. And should fix it. Sell menstrual hygiene products in your airport. Legitimately. I dare you. 23/23
— Erin Law (@erinplaw) October 17, 2022
In response to the woman’s Twitter thread, several people revealed having similar experiences and a woman also revealed having experienced something similar at Istanbul International airport 4 years ago. Guess, the airport really hasn’t changed to become feminine friendly at all.
Also Read: Women Reveal The Weirdest Thing A Man Has Ever Asked Them. Unsurprisingly, Most Questions Are About Sex, Periods And Female Anatomy
For a country that is considered to be developed and a first-world country, it’s shocking that something as basic as a menstrual hygiene product is unavailable at the INTERNATIONAL AIRPORT. What kind of development is this where a woman and her needs have been forgotten completely? We’re just as pissed as Twitter. A woman should not have to ask someone else or struggle so much (while on her period, might I add) to find something so basic. If this can happen to a woman at an international airport in a first-world country, what hopes do the rest of us have? But the real question is, is Istanbul really developed if a woman has to buy tampons or pads like contraband and pay a bomb for them? It’s so easy to buy food and water at airports but why is it so hard for a woman to find something that is just as basic as food and water? It’s not like we bleed by choice and yes, just like we tend to forget to carry food and water from home, we also forget to carry pads and tampons. So, why is it so hard to make it available at stores or place a damn vending machine?
