Part of the debate – in the Senedd at 5:30 pm on 2 March 2021.
I agree with everything that Lynne has said, and I'd like to commend the fantastic work done by the children and young people committee to really get that consensus around such an important subject. I absolutely agree with her that this is all about children's rights, and particularly the rights to understand how their own bodies work, as well as their rights to ensure that they are only involving anybody in their lives if they want them to, and this is what's going to protect them. I agree with her also that a lot of nonsense has been said about this. We've been accused of taking over the role of parents, when, in fact, it's absolutely right that we ensure that children have the right to know how their bodies work. Nowhere is this more clear cut than in menstrual education. It really is a scandal that at least 30 per cent of all girls do not know what is happening to them when they start their period. That is just such a clear-cut sign that parents find it embarrassing and difficult and avoid talking about such a basic subject to the girls in their family that we have to ensure that all girls know about this in order to avoid the trauma of bleeding between their legs without realising what it is.
I'd like to commend the work of Suzy Davies in having the courage and the tenacity to keep going on the importance of menstrual well-being—not just what a period is, but menstrual well-being—so that we all understand what a normal period is, and we can seek help when that is not what is occurring. March is endometriosis March. This is something that unfortunately affects a very large number of girls and women, and the earlier we detect it, the more likely we can avoid it becoming a really horrendous disease that affects people throughout their life. So, I'm very pleased that, as a result of the work of Suzy Davies, we now have that mandatory aspect of the relationship and sexuality code including menstrual well-being. It seems to me that this is also a real milestone, given the prejudice against women and girls across the world simply because we have periods. Thank you, Suzy Davies, for all your hard work. It's great to see the response from the Minister that we now have menstrual well-being in the RSE code.