Protesters at the #FreePeriods demonstration
Protesters at the #FreePeriods demonstration Pink Parcel

Protesters gathered in London on Wednesday (20 December) to demand that the government gives sanitary products to girls who receive free school meals.

Led by 18-year-old Amika George, as well as Scarlett Curtis and Grace Campbell of The Pink Protest campaign group, the demonstrators were asked to wear red to highlight the stigma around menstrual blood.

"Show the British government that we're not ashamed of blood and they shouldn't be either," the Facebook protest group post read.

"No girl should be going without, however the reality is that in the UK, thousands of girls are missing school because they cannot afford sanitary care.

George started #FreePeriods in April when she learned that poorer girls in the UK were forced to improvise with socks, toilet rolls and old T-shirts when they could not afford sanitary products.

"I felt sickened that this was happening in a wealthy country like ours, and worse still, that no action had been taken," she told Vogue.

"Girls were missing school because they daren't go to school without protection - the consequences didn't bear thinking about. I started a petition to call on the government to provide free menstrual products to girls from low-income families and decided to spread the word and talk unashamedly, not just about period poverty but about menstruation."

Following pressure from campaigners, the government pledged to scrap the EU-imposed 5 per cent tax on menstrual products. It currently donates the £15m raised a year to women's charities and plans to cut the tax entirely following Brexit.

Below are some of the wittiest signs from the protest.

#freeperiods protest outside Downing Street. It’s bloody obvious!

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Posters from tonight's #FreePeriods protest in Westminster

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