Grace Da Rocha
Fighting back against period poverty How California and social justice organizations work to make menstrual products accessible for all
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hira Brown has seen many women on campus running into her office at the CSUN Women’s Research and Resource Center with bloodstains on their clothing. One day a student rushed in, jacket around her waist with a red spot on the skirt of her dress and hurriedly asked whether or not Brown had any period products. After providing her with a spare shirt to wear and some free pads, the young woman left. Brown, a professor of gender and women’s studies at CSUN and the director of the WRRC, believes students shouldn’t have to experience this. On Oct. 8, Gov. Gavin Newsom signed Assembly Bill 367, which requires all public schools and colleges in California to have their restrooms — or at least one dedicated and accessible location — stocked with free menstrual products for their students by the 2022-2023 school year. The University Student Union already offers free menstrual products in its restrooms, but now CSUN will have to find a way to bring them to the entire campus. To expand beyond the USU, CSUN will pull from its operating budget and decide on at least one location to offer these products. Each CSU will be responsible for determining how to get the products and where to make them available, according to Hazel Kelly, public affairs manager for the CSU. “You should be able to run into any bathroom and grab
a tampon or pad,” Brown said. “Just because 100% of the population doesn’t need it, doesn’t mean it’s not a necessity.” Period poverty is used as a general term to describe inequalities related to menstruation, such as a lack of access to period products and education. This issue affects menstruating people worldwide, especially those who are unhoused, incarcerated or in school. A study from George Mason University found that 1 in 10 female college students experience period poverty monthly, while 14% of those surveyed said they struggled to pay for period products within the last year. As of 2019, 30 states consider menstrual products a luxury item and have imposed sales taxes on them. California has a temporary exemption on its menstrual product tax until 2023. Period poverty has become a prevalent problem among menstruators in California. In a 2020 study by the Alliance for Period Supplies, 1 in 6 women and girls between the ages of 12 and 44 live below the federal poverty line in California. This affects their ability to afford period products, which cannot be purchased with support programs like food stamps. Newsom’s administration wants to eliminate period poverty for those going to school. “Often periods arrive at inconvenient times,” said Democratic Assemblywoman Cristina Garcia in an October press release. “Having convenient and free access to
