Free menstrual products on the ETH Campus
Menstruation is a normal occurrence for thousands of the university community. In order to ensure the best possible work and study environments for their members, ETH Zurich has launched a project to facilitate access to menstrual products on campus.
In total, 23 dispensers which dispense free tampons and pads are installed in women's and gender-neutral toilets on the Hönggerberg and Zentrum campuses, as well as in Basel and in the Octavo building in Oerlikon. The vending machines each contain one pre-packed pad (size M) or 1 pre-packed tampon (size M).
The aim of the project is to contribute to the normalisation and overcome the taboo surrounding the topic of menstruation at ETH Zurich, but also in Swiss society in general.
The project was initiated by several campus women’s groups and implemented together with ETH Diversity and ETH Facility Management. The project is also supported by VSETH, AVETH, the external pageETH Women Professors Forum and various other university groups.
You too can make a contribution:
- Report an empty dispenser:
- Give us feedback to the pilotproject in general:
- Use the products as need be!
Menstrual products (including menstrual cups) can be purchased at the external pageETH Stores on the Polyterrasse and Hönggerberg.
LIMES and BASTLI (student commissions from D-MAVT and D-ITET) are building an open-hardware menstrual product dispenser. The goal of the project is to create a project that can be replicated by youth in a classroom setting, thereby increasing the ability of bottom-up initiatives to access menstrual products and to spur interest in science & technology more generally.
Menstruation Station on SRF
On the occasion of the decision of the Swiss National Council on 11 May 2022 to reduce the value-added tax on menstrual products, the SRF did a report on the topic of "free menstrual products" in the programme "Schweiz aktuell". The Menstruation Station at ETH Zurich was portrayed and students were interviewed about the offer and its benefits.
The report can be viewed in the external pageSRF media library (from minute 3:17, only in German).