Amika George: Her Work in Eradicating Period Poverty

Disclaimer: This blog post is based on an article that is > 2 years old.

Amika George, age 24, is an inspiration to us youngsters who truly seek to make significant strides in eradicating period poverty, harnessing the “power” of protests. Her resume in this field is packed, ranging from local campaigns to a full-fledged book. Her book, Make It Happen, serves as a guide for aspiring changemakers in spearheading their own socio-political agendas via grassroots efforts.

Picture of Amika George, attained from British Vogue

The tenacity with which she leads her projects is truly awe-inspiring and sets her apart from causes of similar nature. For instance, she promoted her “Free Periods” campaign through various outlets, including a petition on change.org and a demonstration in Parliament Square. Amika also partnered her organization with the Red Box Project to spearhead a legal campaign against the UK government to ensure equitable access to menstrual hygiene products for all individuals, irrespective of their sex. Two months upon the culmination of this collaboration, the Department of Education committed to funding period products to all English schools. Success would be an understatement if one were to assess the results of the campaign.    

According to Amika, however, the biggest takeaway of the campaign would probably be the fact that one can be involved and politically represented, even if they are not yet of voting age. 

Throughout Amika’s remarkable advocacy campaign, she was met with quite a bit of resistance and uneventful periods, during which “nothing seemed to work.” She noted that “keyboard warriors” would often indulge in blame culture, denying the existence of menstrual poverty as a whole. Amika attended an all-girls school, where periods were obviously more likely to be talked about; as a result, there was a lesser stigma attached to the word as a whole. This experience was quite foreign to Amika but also provided her the great opportunity to go outside of her comfort zone and reevaluate the goals of her campaign. 

While Amika has received numerous plaudits like the Goalkeepers Campaigners award of the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation and valuable connections at the United Nations to recognize the great strides of her socio-political movement, she has firmly decided that her path does nto belong in formal politics. Paving the path for future young changemakers, she continues to focus on already-pertinent problems such as climate change, rather than spearheading new campaigns.

Amika George’s Book: “Make It Happen”

Source: https://www.theguardian.com/world/2022/jan/13/i-started-campaigning-before-i-could-even-vote-amika-george-on-period-poverty-politics-and-the-power-of-protest