In the central courtyard of the University of Paris VIII in Saint-Denis, the students are pouting. Eva, in master 2 of political science, shakes her head no: “I’ve never seen vending machines in college, I don’t think there are any. » Same observation for Mahel in psychology license, or Bénédicte in first year of info-com, who have never heard of the device. And yet: nestled in the toilets near the university restaurant, two dispensers of tampons and towels are well hung on the wall.
In February 2021, Frédérique Vidal, then Minister of Higher Education and Research, announced the deployment of 1,500 distributors from the start of the 2021 school year in restaurants and university residences managed by the Crous. If the measure was intended to be a quick and concrete response to student menstrual precariousness, in particular in a post-lockdown context where many young people had lost their jobs, the feedback today is mixed.
More than a year after their establishment, the associative actors point the finger at a ” lack of means “. In fact, 1036 vending machines were installed, not 1500. “I don’t remember this announcement, but what is certain is that we fully complied with what was expected of us, answers Dominique Marchand, president of the Cnous, which oversees the 26 Crous in charge of managing the system at the regional level. In total, 717 vending machines were installed in the 708 residences, and 319 in the 204 restaurants. This corresponds to approximately 1 million euros of expenditure this year. For 2023, 2 million specific credits are planned by the ministry. »
With this budget, since the start of the 2021 school year, 12 million tampons and pads have been distributed, not counting one-off donations from companies or associations. But the installation of the distributors does not correspond to the daily uses of the students according to the association Rules elementary, which fights against menstrual precariousness. “Not all students in a precarious situation have access to university restaurants which may be located off campus”regrets Justine Okolodkoff, responsible for content and awareness within the association.
Arwen says she discovered these distributors “ going to the laundromat [sa] residence “. In her first year of license in Paris, she has a grant of 513 euros per month. “My parents help me by paying my rent, but since I have heavy flows, I buy towels for the night which cost more”. The distributors do not meet his needs, since ” the stock of towels is always empty”. For Sophia, a psychology degree student in Strasbourg, it’s the same observation: “In my laundromat there are only tampons, and I’m not comfortable with them. » The student, who lives with 421 euros of scholarship, therefore shares the costs with her boyfriend: “Since I carry the contraceptive burden in our couple, he wanted to help me, and pays half of my protections each month. »
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