The Periodical by evewallack

THE PERIODICAL E XP O S I NG P E R I O D P OVE RTY I N THE U N ITED STATES

Illustration by Ellie Thomas for a fundraiser tackling period poverty in Manchester, UK.

In order to have a full, equitable and participatory society, we must have laws and policies that ensure menstrual products are safe and affordable and available for those who need them. The ability to access these items affects a personâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s freedom to work and study, to be healthy, and to participate in daily life with dignity. If access is compromised, it is in all of our interests to ensure those needs are met. Jennifer Weiss-Wolf

Welcome to the Menstrual Equity Movement How do Homeless Women Cope with Their Period? In Jail, Pads and Tampons as Bargaining Chips

2 6 10

WELCOME TO THE MENSTRUAL EQUITY MOVEMENT

Editor’s Note EVE WALLACK

The average woman will spend 10 years of her life on her period and spend upwards of $18,000 on period products during her lifetime. For many, periods are no more than a recurring, necessary nuisance. But for those who can’t afford period products, the inability to manage this burden poses a serious threat to their dignity and ability to participate in society. This lack of access to menstrual products is commonly referred to as period poverty. Though period poverty is a global issue, I chose to focus this publication on experiences solely in the United States. Period poverty looks different and often times worse in other countries, and this American focus is not meant to minimize or ignore the

experiences of those around the world. This lens can help us recognize the unique experiences of menstruators in our own communities, and allows us to tailor our responses to the specific circumstances of our country. Not all women menstruate, and not all who menstruate may identify as women. We must recognize that those who hold trans or gender nonconforming identities have been consistently left out of this conversation. Given that the vast majority of those who have periods are cisgender women and girls, they are the focus of this publication, and I was unable to fully include stories of transgender and gender-nonconforming experiences of menstruation. This however, does not detract from the

reality of those experiences. There is more work to be done to ensure that all who menstruate, regardless of gender identity, are included in discussions about their own health. I invite you to review this publication with empathy, and to open yourself up to a problem you may never have known existed. By the end, I hope that you’re shocked, inspired, and maybe even a little angry at the injustices you discover, and I hope that maybe these discoveries ignite action in some of you. Welcome to the menstrual equity movement, I’m so glad you’re here.

Behind Bars

6th Period

U.S. Women Can’t Afford Their Periods

Blood in the Streets: Coping with Menstruation While Homeless

In Jail, Pads and Tampons as Bargaining Chips

NYC Council Approves Free Tampon Program

The Unequal Price of Periods: Menstrual Equity in the U.S.

The Widespread Impact of Period Poverty on U.S. Students

Poor Periods

Homeless Periods

Selected Stories: How do Homeless Women Cope With Their Period?

Prisons Humiliate Women and Violate Basic Rights

Free the Tampons

The Tampon Tax

Stronger Together

There’s Always Something Missing From Women’s Bathrooms

Taxing Tampons Isn’t Just Unfair, It’s Unconstitutional

Taking Collective Action

30 States Tax Period Supplies but do not Tax These Items

Periods Don’t Stop for Pandemics

POOR PERIODS

Illustration by Jeannie Phan

Period products are ineligible for purchases made with public benefits like food stamps; they’re not routinely or consistently offered in public shelters or crisis centers; they’re not mandated or provided in any uniform way in jails and prisons; in the vast majority of states they’re not exempt from sales tax; they’re not covered by health insurance or Medicaid, or included in Flexible Spending Account allowances; and they are not readily available in school or workplace (or any) restrooms. The takeaway for Americans: you’re on your own. Jennifer Weiss-Wolf U.S. Women Can’t Afford Their Periods E.J. MUNDELL

A study of nearly 200 poor women living in the St. Louis area found that two out of three had to go without feminine hygiene products at least once over the prior year, due to cost. A study of nearly 200 poor women living in the St. Louis area found that two out of three had to go without feminine hygiene products at least once over the prior year, due to cost. About one-fifth -- 21 percent -said this happened on a monthly basis, and nearly half said they often had to make tough choices between buying food or period-related products. The findings add fuel to demands by women’s groups across the United States to ban sales taxes on feminine hygiene products. There are also calls to make such products available through programs such as the federal Women, Infants, and Children Program (WIC) “Adequate menstrual hygiene management is not a luxury,” according to researchers led by Anne Sebert Kuhlmann, of Saint Louis University.

Our failure to meet these biological needs for all women in the United States is an affront to their dignity, and barrier to their full participation in the social and economic life of our country. “It is a basic need for all women and should be regarded as a basic women’s right,” the team reported. “Our failure to meet these biological needs for all women in the United States is an affront to their dignity, and barrier to their

full participation in the social and economic life of our country.” Kuhlmann stressed that a lack of pads or tampons can have real health consequences for poor women. The threat mounts even higher when mothers and daughters are in this situation together. “The cost of buying menstrual hygiene products for multiple women in a household accumulates quickly,” noted Kuhlmann, an associate professor of behavioral science and health education at the university. There are even consequences for employment. According to the study, 36 percent of the women said they had missed days of work due to lack of adequate period hygiene. The new study involved a survey of 183 women, aged 18 to 69, who were drawn from 10 participating St. Louis community organizations that provide services to low-income people. Many of the women said they had spent decades coping with what Kuhlmann’s team called “period product insecurity.” Some of the women used homemade solutions to cope when they couldn’t afford tampons or pads, while others admitted to stealing hygiene products. Others said they had gone to hospital emergency rooms and gotten pads meant for post-partum women. The study “reveals shocking statistics from the wealthiest country in the world,” said Dr. Mitchell Kramer, chairman of the obstetrics and gynecology department at Northwell Health’s Huntington Hospital in Huntington, N.Y. “It emphasizes the importance of advocacy for change in policies related to menstrual hygiene from health care providers and their professional organizations.”

Women buy disposable products when they can, but are often forced to rely on donations and/or to create make-shift pads and tampons for themselves, mostly out of toilet paper, tissue or paper towels, but also out of their kids’ diapers, old socks, ripped T-shirts or rags. Women’s groups have also long advocated that period-related products be included under programs such as WIC or the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP), both of which are aimed at helping low-income women. And what about sourcing tampons and pads from local charities? Kuhlmann’s team investigated that approach, too, surveying 18 St. Louis nonprofits about what products were routinely available to their clients. Only 13 supplied women with feminine hygiene products, and nine of those organizations said they were only “intermittently” available. “It’s easier to get diapers than period products in St. Louis,” Kuhlmann concluded. So, “women buy disposable products when they can, but are often forced to rely on donations and/or to create make-shift pads and tampons for themselves, mostly out of toilet paper, tissue or paper towels, but also

out of their kids’ diapers, old socks, ripped T-shirts or rags.” And for many poor moms, kids’ needs come first. “They will purchase diapers first and then get menstrual hygiene products for themselves if money remains,” Kuhlmann said. “This must change,” her team wrote. “We urge women’s health care providers and their professional organizations to advocate for such policy changes.”

HOMELESS PERIODS Kaila I think the hardest thing about

be here. I hadn’t lived at home since

being on the streets is probably being

I was 10 years old and I took care of

a female. If you’re a woman, you like

myself. There are so many kids who

your face clean, you know you like

fall through the cracks I guess, and

feeling good you like smelling good.

that’s what happened with me. If

Period times are not good times for us.

you got cramps, good luck. I tend to

It is very difficult to have your period

flock to places like this, public parks

and it’s very uncomfortable. I’ve been

where they have public bathrooms.

doing this for so long. I’m 27 years

I’ve learned how to make my own

old. This will be my eighth winter out

tampons out of pads. I try to use

here on the streets. Growing up my

tampons as much as I can but tam-

mom was a victim of domestic vio-

pons are expensive! People tend to,

lence and so she put us through a lot.

when they do give care packages,

I went into the system, she got custo-

it’s usually pads.

dy of me again and basically she was like you know what I don’t want you in the system anymore but you can’t Kaila, 27, has been on the streets for eight years. She describes how she prefers tampons to pads, but shelters usually, if they do have products, typically only have pads. She has learned how to create her own tampons out of pads. Kaila and Alex’s stories are from Bustle’s article and video, How Do Homeless Women Cope With Their Periods? by Janet Upadhye

Alex Tampons and pads are so expensive

boyfriend spend on a meal together. I

here. I mean, the cheapest box of tam-

would rather be clean than full. I’ve

pons on this Walgreens right here

always just used like paper towels or

it’s like a little over seven dollars.

toilet paper or something like that.

It’s more money than me and my

Dawn and Anne's stories are taken from the article Blood in the Streets: Coping with Menstruation while Homeless by Jennifer Weiss-Wolf and Laura Epstein-Norris, photographs by Laura Epstein-Norris.

Dawn

Anne A lifelong resident of San Francisco,

lack of private, safe bathrooms in the

Anne’s landlord announced without

residence where she sleeps. Constant

warning that he was tripling her

intrusions make it hard to use the

rent. Overnight she found herself

toilet, change a tampon and wash

without a home and, soon enough,

her hands. When offered tampons,

without a job. When asked what is

she’ll take as many as she can carry.

hardest about having her period,

They’re so expensive,” she added.

Anne immediately lamented the

Dawn has lived on and off the

duffle bag in any event. So she only

streets since she was a teenager.

has a few on hand at any time, and

With her husband and her dog, she’s

relies on any extras to spare at the

now homeless again. A writer, Dawn

shelters and meals programs she

hopes to one day publish articles on

attends. Dawn’s tip to those who

women’s health and empowerment.

make donations: panty-liners please;

Like Anne, she remarked on the

they go a long way in helping keep

expense of tampons — impossible for

her underwear as clean as possible

her to afford. A box wouldn’t fit in her

during her period.

NAPKINS TOWELS TOILET PAPER PLASTIC BAGS PAPER BAGS COTTON BALLS MAKEUP PADS TANK TOPS SOCKS

To all the menstruators who are reading this, take a moment to imagine what it would be like if you got your period and had no period products on hand, and no bathroom or shower of your own, but had the same pressure to go about your day and function as if you were not on your period. Nadya Okamoto

What it’s Like to Get Your Period When You’re Homeless LANE MO ORE

Sarah

Megan

Penny

Being homeless and having your

Anytime that I would get pads

Getting your period when you don’t

Dealing with my period when I was

period just makes everything else

and tampons, I would try and get

have pads and tampons is gross.

homeless was one of the most em-

worse. Logistically, it’s tough just

a whole bunch or try to save them

Thank god in California there are

barrassing things, because sanitary

getting pads or tampons, but it’s

up. Other than that, I would try

organizations that have baskets and

napkins were very limited at the

also harder if you don’t have access

to use whatever I had if it was an

baskets of tampons and pads for

shelters and often times sometimes

to sanitary facilities to keep yourself

emergency. There were occasionally

homeless people. It’s just no ques-

they would only give you one to three.

clean. That doesn’t include having

moments when I didn’t have access

tions asked. But on the East Coast,

Sometimes I’d get money from other

cramps and no way to access pain

to anything and I just used what-

it’s totally different. If I didn’t have

people and if I had money left over

relievers. I was in the shelter and

ever was around. Sometimes I would

paper towels, I’d roll toilet paper

after doing laundry then I might be

I remember having to ask the staff

steal things, or try to just go make a

over my hand like five or six times

able to get a couple. When I didn’t

for tampons. It felt demeaning even

few dollars to get pads and tampons.

and use that. When I didn’t have ac-

have money or access to those, I’d just

though the staff was female. The

At the same time, my period in gen-

cess to a bathroom, I’d take a T-shirt

use toilet paper and try to make sure

staff gave me three. She didn’t ask

eral was kind of irregular, so some-

I was not going to wear anymore and

I was near a restroom all day.”

how many I needed, she just gave me

times I didn’t need to use anything

use that. Or I’d ball up another pair

three regular tampons. Seems simple

because sometimes I didn’t have my

of underwear that maybe had a stain

enough and it was way better than

period every month.

on them and use that. Sometimes if

nothing, however, indeed more than

I saw somebody on the subway who

three and something stronger than

When I did get it, I wouldn’t go out,

looked about my age and seemed cool

a regular. There are a plethora of

and I would try to stay where there

and I could talk to them, I would act

things that are donated to women’s

were areas that I could use the bath-

like it was an immediate emergen-

shelters, but in my experience one of

room somewhere. I was just really

cy, like, ‘Oh my god. Do you by any

the things that isn’t donated nearly

careful when I had my period. It’s so

chance have a tampon?

enough is feminine hygiene products.”

embarrassing because I’d think, ‘Oh crap, what am I going to do?’ There have been times where I’m like, ‘OK these clothes are ruined and I need to go wash them in a sink.

(Left) A list of items homeless women have reported using when they didn’t have access to menstrual products.

BEHIND BARS

Betty Ann Whaley, 56, who was released from Rikers last June. Photo by Elias Williams.

In Jail, Pads and Tampons as Bargaining Chips ZOE GREENBERG Tara Oldfield-Parker, now an inmate in upstate New York, said that when she asked for a sanitary pad at a police station in Queens, she was given a bandage. When Tara Oldfield-Parker, 24, was arrested on charges of shoplifting, she had just gotten her period. She asked the officers in charge of her holding cell in a police station in Queens for a sanitary pad. Sure, they said. But they would need to call an ambulance to get one. After about an hour and a half,

they produced a sterile gauze pad, apparently obtained from an ambulance. It was the kind of rectangular gauze used to bandage an arm, with no adhesive. It might seem strange that a place where female suspects are held would not have something as basic as a sanitary pad. Ms. Oldfield-Parker’s story reflects the way menstruation can be treated in New York’s jails: as an inconvenience, almost a surprise, to be met, at times, with an improvised response. Simple supplies like pads and tampons can become bargaining chips, used to maintain control by correction officers, or traded among incarcerated women, according to former inmates and advocates on the issue. Each level of incarceration in New York has a different policy (or no policy) related to menstruation. Ms. Oldfield-Parker’s cell had no supplies. But in the state’s prisons and jails, these women and advocates say, inconsistent access to tampons and pads has less to do with stock and more to do with power. The

facilities have enough supplies, but they are not available equally to all the women who need them. At the Rose M. Singer Center on Rikers Island, where about 600 women usually are imprisoned, pads and tampons are distributed weekly. It’s up to officers to determine how the pads reach the women: Some leave them out in a bucket or box; others hand them out to individual women who ask. “Some women have reported no issues at all; they ask and get what they need,” said Kelsey De Avila, a jail services social worker with Brooklyn Defender Services who spends about three days a week on Rikers. “Others have to beg for it.” Since the distribution is left up to individual officers, there is an easy opportunity for mishandling. Betty Ann Whaley, 56, who was released from Rikers last June and now lives in the North Bronx, said pads were accessible “seven out of 10 times,” though they were

a flimsy version of what you might buy at a store. Tampons were harder to get. “They were only given to certain housing units,” Ms. Whaley said in an interview after her release. And even then, she added, “they were only dispensed to certain individuals — you had to be sort of chummy-chummy in order to receive them.” Others agreed that it isn’t an issue of supply. Chandra Bozelko, a writer

Ms. Whaley recalled an episode at Rikers when a correction officer threw a bag of tampons into the air and watched as inmates dived to the ground to retrieve them, because they didn’t know when they would next be able to get tampons.

and advocate who was incarcerated at a state prison in Connecticut, said menstrual supplies were indeed used as tools of control. Officers sometimes tried to teach women a lesson by limiting access, affecting self-esteem as well as basic hygiene. “It turns you on yourself,” Ms. Bozelko said. “You start to hate your body.” In both state and city facilities in New York, women recalled humiliating experiences related to getting what they needed. Christine, 24, said she would never forget what happened to her at Bedford Hills Correctional Facility, a maximum-security women’s prison in Westchester County that serves as a reception center for newcomers. She was going to be transferred to another prison, so her father came to visit her. She had her period and had not been given any pads. After the visit, she was strip-searched as blood ran down her legs. The female correction officer was cruel, she said. “She was telling me how disgusting I was, ‘It’s disgusting,’” she recalled. “I was so embarrassed.”

been incarcerated at Taconic Correctional Facility, a medium-security prison in Bedford Hills, N.Y., through last September, said sanitary products were “a higher currency than sugar, coffee and cigarettes.”

but Ms. Bozelko said that was the price of making sure women have what they need. And, second, individual officers need to be held accountable if they do not supply the products.

Lacking menstrual supplies can also disrupt an incarcerated woman’s rehabilitation. Andrea Nieves, a Brooklyn public defender, testified last year before a New York City Council committee looking into the availability of feminine hygiene products in jails that a client at Rikers asked her social worker not t o visit while the client was menstruating, afraid that she would bleed through her uniform and be ashamed.

Last June, the Council passed a law requiring city jails to provide free feminine hygiene products to inmates. It’s not clear that the law made a difference. It does not include an enforcement mechanism and does not apply to state prisons, where a 2015 report by the nonprofit Correctional Association of New York found that more than half of survey respondents said the monthly supply of menstrual pads did not meet their needs.

Ms. Bozelko said she was often asked about a scene from the Netflix series “Orange Is the New Black,” in which the protagonist wears shower shoes made out of sanitary napkins. Though she recalled that some incarcerated women used pads for other purposes, Ms. Bozelko said she could not understand it.

Name-brand tampons are available at the jail commissary for about $4 a box, though some women can’t afford them. At Rikers, women said tampons were valuable enough that they could be traded for a bag of chips or a pack of coffee. This sense of scarcity was echoed at other facilities: Frances McMurry, who had

Ms. Bozelko, who is an adviser for a book about the politics of periods, mentioned two ways in which prisons and jails could improve. First, require officers to put the pads or tampons in a public place, as some already do at Rikers, so that women do not need to ask for them. Some may be wasted,

“I’d rather get foot fungus than waste those things,” she said. “I had to go to war for each one of them.”

In the state’s prisons and jails, inconsistent access to tampons and pads has less to do with stock and more to do with power. The facilities have enough supplies, but they are not available equally to all the women who need them.

Tara Oldfield-Parker, now an inmate in upstate New York, said that when she asked for a sanitary pad at a police station in Queens, she was given a bandage. She asked the officers in charge for a sanitary pad. After about an

hour and a half, they produced a sterile gauze pad, apparently obtained from an ambulance. Photo by Shane Lavalette.

Pads are not dispensed as they are supposed to be. We are forced to reuse them, we are forced to beg for what we need, and if an officer is in a bad mood they are allowed to take what we have and say we are hoarding. Halle, California County Jail

The Unequal Price of Periods: Menstrual Equity in the U.S. ACLU

Prisoners were forced to choose between the humiliation of going without menstrual products for months at a time and being raped. No one should ever have to choose between their right to refuse sex and their right to basic hygiene.

two weeks’ wages; other states charge similarly high prices and prisoners may therefore be forced to spend multiple days’ wages on products every single month. Incarcerated people around the country often must make an impossible choice between accessing medical care, buying menstrual products, and speaking to their families or their

In 2016, over 200,000 women and girls were incarcerated in state or federal prisons and jails. Few states require or ensure adequate access to menstrual products in correctional facilities, resulting in dire circumstances for many under their jurisdiction. For example, in one Michigan jail, women detainees were regularly denied access to desperately needed menstrual products. Some women there only received such products after begging for them, while others never received them at all. They were therefore forced to use toilet paper to manage menstrual bleeding or else bleed into their prison jumpsuits. Because laundry day occurred once a week, they were forced to re-wear bloody clothes for up to a full week. In addition, prison staff forced those in their care to compete for limited menstrual products, in one case ordering 30 women to share a pack of 12 pads. This behavior was cruel and senseless — except as a method of humiliation and control. The court nonetheless determined that the deprivation of menstrual products was “de minimis” — too trivial to be considered a violation of the Constitution.

Incarcerated people around the country often must make an impossible choice between accessing medical care, buying menstrual products, and speaking to their families or their attorneys on the phone.

In an Indiana jail, a woman was provided no products for 36 hours and then was provided only four — three pads and one tampon — for the next two and a half days. She bled through her jumpsuit onto the floor where she was forced to sleep. She was humiliated and subjected to a severely unhygienic environment.

Incarcerated women usually come from lower-income backgrounds, with more than a third earning less than $600 per month and more than half unemployed prior to their incarceration. Once incarcerated, their financial situation only worsens. Prisoners who work in prison jobs earn less than $3.50 per day on average, and often money that they earn is put towards court fees and other costs. Because commissary items in prisons are purchased through outside vendors that often have monopolies on the products they sell, those products may be marked up significantly, making them even more out of reach for indigent prisoners. For example, a box of tampons in a Colorado prison can cost

Menstruation And Rape A Department of Justice investigator revealed that, at the Tutwiler Prison for Women in Alabama, correctional officers would with hold necessary menstrual items in order to coerce prisoners to have sex with them. Prisoners there were forced to choose between the humiliation of going without menstrual products for months at a time and being raped by men who had power over them. The already dangerous power dynamics of prison were significantly worsened by a toxic mindset that menstrual products could be withheld from prisoners. No one should ever have to choose between their right to refuse sex and their right to basic hygiene.

attorneys on the phone. As just one example, Florida prisoners earn on average much less than 50 cents per hour, but have to pay over $4 for four tampons, $2.10 for a 15-minute phone call and $5 for a medical visit. It is not only adult facilities that provide insufficient resources. Young people in juvenile justice facilities may also lack consistent access to menstrual and other hygiene products. One girl who was formerly housed in a juvenile “probation camp” described having such limited access to menstrual products that hers and others’ clothing would get stained from period blood. The stains would not be specially treated on laundry day. This lack of access made her “feel dirty and not cared for.” A report by the Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors noted that this lack of access to tampons or high quality pads “was a reoccurring concern.”

Menstruation And Humiliation Lack of access to menstrual products can have devastating and permanent effects. Kimberly Haven is a formerly incarcerated woman who had to have an emergency hysterectomy due to toxic shock syndrome after using makeshift tampons in prison. She testified to Maryland legislators in support of a bill to provide menstrual products to incarcerated women and girls. She asked her audience to imagine themselves in the place of those women, who would “refuse visits from family, from attorneys, because they’re embarrassed at having to … squat and cough — and there’s a bloody pad there and you have to throw it away, you now have to walk back to your pod with nothing there, running the risk of bleeding through your clothes and you don’t have access to laundry facilities.”

In episode five of “Orange is the New Black,” an inmate contemplates using her sleep mask as a makeshift pad. Photo courtesy of Netflix.

Prisons Humiliate Women and Violate Basic Rights CHANDRA BOZELKO Stains on clothes seep into self-esteem and reinforce powerlessness. That’s why wardens keep sanitation just out of reach. Everyone laughed when Piper Chapman emerged from the shower during the first season of Orange Is the New Black with bootleg shoes made of maxi pads – and inmates do sometimes waste precious resources like sanitary products with off-label uses. At York Correctional Institution in Niantic, Connecticut, where I spent more than six years, I used the tampons as scouring pads – certainly not as sponges, because prison tampons are essentially waterproof– when I needed to clean a stubborn mess in my cell. That should not lead anyone to think that sanitary products are easy to come by in jail. At York, each cell, which houses two female inmates, receives five pads per week to split. I’m not sure what they expect us to do with the fifth but this comes out to 10 total for each woman, allowing for only one change a day in an average five-day monthly cycle. The lack of sanitary supplies is so bad in women’s prisons that I have seen pads fly right out of an inmate’s pants: prison maxi pads don’t have wings and they have only average adhesive so, when a woman wears

the same pad for several days because she can’t find a fresh one, that pad often fails to stick to her underwear and the pad falls out. It’s disgusting but it’s true. The only reason I dodged having a maxi pad slither off my leg is that I layered and quilted together about six at a time so I could wear a homemade diaper that was too big to slide down my pants. I had enough supplies to do so because I bought my pads from the commissary. However, approximately 80% of inmates are indigent and cannot afford to pay the $2.63 the maxi pads cost per package of 24, as most earn 75 cents a day and need to buy other necessities like toothpaste ($1.50, or two days’ pay) and deodorant ($1.93, almost three days’ pay). Sometimes I couldn’t get the pads because the commissary ran out: they kept them in short supply as it appeared I was the only one buying them. Connecticut is not alone in being cheap with its supplies for women. Inmates in Michigan filed suit last December alleging that pads and tampons are so scarce that their civil rights have been violated. One woman bled through her uniform and was required to dress herself in her soiled jumpsuit after stripping for a search. The reasons for keeping supplies for women in prison limited are not purely financial. Even though keeping inmates clean would seem to be in the prison’s self-interest, prisons control their wards by keeping sanitation just out of reach. Stains on clothes seep into self-esteem and serve as an indelible reminder of one’s powerlessness in prison. Asking for something you need crystallizes the power differential between inmates and guards; the officer can either meet your need or he can refuse you, and there’s little you can do to influence his choice. To ask a macho guard for a tampon is humiliating. But it’s more than that: it’s an acknowledgment of the fact that, ultimately, the prison controls your cleanliness, your health and your feel-

Prisons control their wards by keeping sanitation just out of reach. Stains on clothes seep into self-esteem and serve as an indelible reminder of one’s powerlessness in prison. Asking for something you need crystallizes the power differential between inmates and guards; the officer can either meet your need or he can refuse you, and there’s little you can do to influence his choice. ings of self-esteem. The request is even more difficult to make when a guard complains that his tax dollars shouldn’t have to pay for your supplies. You want to explain to him that he wouldn’t have a paycheck to shed those taxes in the first place if prison staff weren’t needed to do things like feeding inmates and handing out sanitary supplies – but you say nothing because you want that maxi pad.

stain-free underwear designed by a woman’s start-up. Thinx are expensive – $200 for seven pair – but they still might be cost effective when you factor in the cost of buying disposable pads and the time and energy devoted to the pad power struggle in women’s prisons. But I doubt that corrections systems in the United States will give up the forced scarcity of menstrual products in prison.

The guards’ reluctance to hand out the supplies is understandable because of inmates’ off-label uses for the products. Women use the pads and tampons for a number of things besides their monthly needs: to clean their cells, to make earplugs by ripping out the stuffing, to create makeshift gel pads to insert under their blisters in uncomfortable work boots or to muffle the bang that sounds when a shaky double bed hits a cement wall whenever either of its sleepers move. The staff watches us waste a precious commodity. What they fail to acknowledge is that these alternative uses fill other unfulfilled needs for a woman to maintain her physical and mental health. If we had adequate cleaning supplies, proper noise control, band-aids for our blisters or stable beds, we would happily put the pads in our pants.

Though many argue that prisoners cannot be pampered in jail, having access to sanitary pads is not a luxury – it is a basic human right. Just like no-one should have to beg to use the toilet, or be given toilet paper, women too must be able to retain their dignity during their menstrual cycle. Using periods to punish women simply has no place in any American prison.

There are ways to restore dignity to America’s inmates. For example, we could remove the entire sanitary supply problem if American prisons bought the newly-released Thinx for female inmates, which are super absorbent,

6TH PERIOD NYC Council Approves Free Tampon Program KATIE METTLER

So they can focus on their 6th-period test, instead of their period. Girls shouldn’t have to miss class because of their period. On Tuesday, in a crowded room in New York City, council member Julissa FerrerasCopeland whipped out a small, wrapped tampon and waved it in the air. She did not sneak it from her purse or secretly shove it up her shirt sleeve. She was not on her way to the bathroom. The lawmaker was trying to make a point, and this tampon was her prop. “They’re as necessary as toilet paper,” she said. It was a defiant act against period stigma and a taboo Ferreras-Copeland has been fighting against in her quest for what she calls menstrual equity. On Tuesday, after months of crusading and a colorful public discussion, she led the New York City Council toward a historic decision. In a 49-0 vote, the council approved a measure that would make New York City the first in the United States to give all women in public schools, prisons and homeless shelters access to feminine hygiene products — free of charge. “For students who will no longer miss class because they do not have a pad or tampon to mothers at shelters and women in prison who will have access to these critical yet often overlooked products, this package makes our city a more fair place,” Ferreras-Copeland said in a council statement. Her proposal, co-sponsored in part by council speaker Melissa Mark-Viverito and members Ydanis Rodriguez and Daniel Dromm, would make pads and tampons freely available for the 300,000 schoolgirls in New York City and 23,000 women in public homeless shelters, reported the Associated Press. In correctional institutions, women are provided a limited supply of generic hygiene products, but advocates say that under current regulations, the options are at times scarce, inadequate and dehumanizing. This legislative package would change that, adding the force of law to

A young girl should not have to tell her teacher, to then tell her counselor, to then be sent to the nurse’s office, to then be given a pad to then go back to the bathroom while a boy is already taking his exam in his classroom. pre-existing standards. The measure would provide an estimated 2 million tampons and 3.5 million pads each year, just to homeless shelters, reported AP. It will take up about $2.5 million annually in the city’s $82 billion budget. The package approved Tuesday was FerrerasCopeland’s most recent effort to bring menstrual equity to the city. At the beginning of 2016, she spearheaded a pilot program that brought free pads and tampons to female students in 25 public high schools in Queens and the Bronx. In support of the measure spreading to all public schools, de Blasio posted a video to Facebook. It read: “So they can focus on their 6th-period test, instead of their period. Girls shouldn’t have to miss class because of their

period. Because tampons and pads aren’t luxuries — they’re necessities. As FerrerasCopeland put it:” In an announcement on the steps of city hall Tuesday, with a flock of women’s health advocates standing behind her, FerrerasCopeland praised the legislation, which is just as much about eliminating stigma as it is about providing free access to health products. “This package is remarkable,” FerrerasCopeland told the crowd, according to the Huffington Post. “It is the only one of its kind, and it says periods are powerful.”

Julissa Ferraras-Copeland, NYC council member behind the first U.S. measure to make tampons and pads free in schools, shelters and prisons. Photo by William Alatriste

The goal needs to go beyond aiming that girls simply attend school but also ensuring that they are comfortable and confident while there. It is about educational opportunity yes, but encompasses so much more: economic empowerment, bodily integrity, and an understanding that menstruation is deeply rooted in the broader case for human rights. Jennifer Weiss-Wolf The Widespread Impact of Period Poverty on U.S. Students COMMISSIONED BY THINX AND PERIOD.

Having to stuff my underwear with toilet paper and worrying about it caused me so much more stress in my everyday life. —high school student, Portland, OR The results of this study show that students in the United States face considerable barriers in accessing menstrual hygiene products. The data, drawn by Harris In sights & Analytics from 1,000 teens ages 13 to 19, suggests that while economic barriers are significant, cultural and structural obstacles are also largely to blame. Lack of access is evident across various demographic groups, with effects that include risk of infection, emotional anxiety, and logistical challenges that present significant short and long-term repercussions. Thinx, together with PERIOD, proposes a multi-pronged effort to address these issues, calling for more comprehensive studies on period poverty in young people; medically accurate sexual education in schools; and legislation to make period products as available as toilet paper in school and public bathrooms. Survey Findings The vast majority of students who responded to the State of the Period survey have experienced the stress of inaccessible period products. 1 in 5 teens have struggled to afford period products or were not able to purchase them at all. The results of this survey suggest that the practical consequences are clear. More than 4 in 5 teens have either missed class time or know a classmate who missed class time because they did not have access to period products. These physical, emotional, and educational consequences are clear to

84%

of teens have either missed class time or know someone who missed class time because they did not have access to period products.

• 83% (more than 4 in 5 teens) think lack of access to period products is an issue that is not talked about enough. Shame The majority of teens surveyed reported feelings of shame, self-consciousness, and/ or embarrassment about their periods. The following statistics reflect the negative sentiments that follow teens throughout their lives on what is typically a monthly basis, and are a foundation for increased emotional anxiety with numerous potential effects: • 64% believe society teaches people to be ashamed of their periods. • 66% do not want to be at school when they are on their period. • 80% feel there is a negative association with periods, that they are gross or unsanitary. • 71% feel self-conscious on their period. • 69% feel embarrassed when they have to

students, who are increasingly aware of the growing discourse around menstrual equity. The students surveyed expressed the need for stronger advocates who can help ensure that period products are available in their schools alongside basic necessities like toilet paper and soap. “Having to stuff my underwear with toilet paper and worrying about it caused me so much more stress in my everyday life.” Anonymous high school student, Portland, Oregon Access Students across demographic groups (inclu ing age, household income, living in both urban and rural areas, and attending public and private schools) reported a lack of access to period products. • Two-thirds of teens have felt stress due to lack of access to period products. • 20% (1 in 5 teens) have struggled to afford period products or were not able to purchase them at all. • 61% have worn a tampon or pad for more than 4 hours because they did not have enough access to period products (puts them at risk of infection and TSS). • 84% (more than 4 in 5 teens) have either missed class time or know someone who missed class time because they did not have access to period products. • 25% (1 in 4 teens) have missed class because of lack of access to period products.

51%

of students feel like their school does not care about them if they do not provide free period products in their bathrooms.

bring period products to the bathroom. • 57% have felt personally affected by the negative association surrounding periods. • The majority (51%) of students feel like their school does not care about them if they do not provide free period products in their bathrooms. Education The data below reflects both the lack of education about periods in schools as well as the educational repercussions when students lack access to period products. The following data points to questions of equity in educating teens in the United States: • Only 23% of teens said they know what ‘menstrual equity’ means. • 79% feel that they need more in-depth education around menstrual health.

• 76% think we are taught more about the biology of frogs than the biology of the human female body in school. • 51% have missed at least part of a class or class period due to menstruation symptoms such as cramps. Taking Action The data here present a compelling argument for the importance of making menstrual products and menstrual health education available to all young people. As organizations dedicated to equity and bodily integrity, Thinx and PERIOD believe that free and readily available access to period products is a fundamental right. We are committed to working with others to transform the landscape around period poverty and ensure products are freely accessible in schools, shelters, and prisons and jails, and are no longer taxed as luxury items. On the most fundamental level, more research must be done to better understand period poverty in teens specifically. That’s why Thinx and PERIOD are calling on Congress to fund comprehensive impact studies on period poverty’s effects on students and their access to education. The study highlights a serious problem with a solvable solution. When we achieve menstrual equity, people with periods have the freedom to work, study, and participate in society with basic dignity.

66%

of teens have felt stress due to lack of access to period products.

FREE THE TAMPONS The only reason tampons aren't free is because the government hates women. Ilana Wexler, Broad City There’s Always Something Missing From Women’s Bathrooms NANCY KRAMER

Now is the time for bathrooms to be created equal. In 1981, a long time ago, I had the great fortune to start our business with Apple Computer as our company’s first client. And in working with Apple for the better part of two decades meant that they influenced and inspired a number of things in our company and in me and it’s one of those things that I’m here to share with you today. Despite what you might be thinking, it has nothing to do with technology but instead has to do with tampons. Yes, tampons. And here’s the issue, as it turns out, not all restrooms are created equal. Some of them have all the items in them that a person needs and others don’t. I have actually been thinking about this since January of 1982 when I walked into the women’s restroom in Apple’s corporate headquarters in Cupertino California, and there on the counter was a collection of tampons and pads for everyone to freely access. It was the first time in my life that I had ever seen that to be the case, and I thought “Wow that makes so much sense, a public restroom that has everything that I as a woman need to tend to my normal bodily functions.” Because the truth is, there’s something always missing in women’s restrooms, and it’s feminine care products. Now, there are these things called vending machines that are in some of the restrooms they require an irrelevant artifact called a quarter to access, and if you happen to have one on you the machines are broken more often than not. I think this is begging for innovation and technology. And if they’re working and you have a quarter inevitably, they’re empty.

Most product dispensers in bathrooms (left) are grossly outdated. They require a quarter and usually are empty. Hooha, a smart tampon dispenser, was designed by Steph Loffredo in 2018 after attending SWSX, a large innovation conference where she saw robots frying eggs but found the women’s bathroom with a broken tampon dispenser. Hooha allows users to text the machine when they need a tampon and they are free. So we’ve conditioned half of the population to be carrying a tampon and pad on them at all times, because who wants to be humiliated. Once my eyes were open to this situation, I immediately stocked our restrooms at our business with women’s supplies. For those of you that might be thinking this is an extraordinary expense let me share the economics with you. For one year for every one of our female associates, we spend four dollars and 57 cents. I think that’s an investment that’s worthwhile, to have our female associates have a peace of mind over the years. I’ve talked to a lot of people about this issue and I’ve actually convinced a number of businesses to stock their restrooms with women’s supplies.

We don’t all carry rolls of toilet paper around with us, right? Who decided toilet paper was free and tampons weren’t? Who decided paper towels, soap, and seat covers are free, and tampons aren’t?

But this issue really hit home for me when my daughters hit middle school, the thought that my daughters and their friends could be subjected to the kind of embarrassment and humiliation that would come without them having access to supplies when they needed them, was more than this mother could bear. So, I went to the school and I ultimately convinced the school to stock the girls and women’s restrooms with women’s supplies. In preparation for today and the campaign, one of the first things that we did was we conducted a large body of research to really understand the complexity and depth of this issue. So with the help of Harris Interactive, we did a survey of all women in the United States over the age of 18 that menstruate. Here’s what we found: 86% of them said that they have been caught without the supplies that they need in the public space. 8% said the machines work all the time. 79% of the women said they were forced to improvise with toilet paper or some other material generally by rolling their own. The stories that we heard from the women were filled with emotion. From a 23 year old we heard and I quote “it’s embarrassing to have blood dripping out of my body with nothing to catch it” to a 79 year old woman who vividly remembered getting her period at the mall, and there was nothing there for her, so she wrapped a sweater around her waist and ran home

In virtually every school in America, we send our young girls to the nurse’s office to retrieve supplies. We send our daughters to the nurse’s office like they’re sick. as fast as she could before the whole world saw that she had gotten her period. And then, there’s the female college athlete who was at her rivalries haul-away game getting ready to take the field for a big game, she goes to the bathroom and she’s in the restroom, she starts her period, and there’s nothing in the locker room, nobody is there, and she is forced to roll her own and play the entire game that way. We learned that in virtually every school in America, we send our young girls to the nurse’s office to retrieve supplies. We send our daughters to the nurse’s office like they’re sick. Let people know not all bathrooms are created equal. Let people know girls should never be in a position to have to roll their own. Let people know that it’s time to free the tampons. Now is the time for bathrooms to be created equal. Thank you.

NOW IS THE TIME FOR BATHROOMS TO BE CREATED EQUAL

THE TAMPON TAX

Illustration by Lauren Ahn

Taking on and taking down the tampon tax has the potential to accomplish four key objectives: it lifts a small financial burden; it challenges laws that are archaic and discriminatory; it helps inch toward a model of economic parity and gender equity; and it is a gateway for getting people to talk about the wider implications of menstruation in our policy making. Jennifer Weiss-Wolf Taxing Tampons isn’t Just Unfair, it’s Unconstitutional ERWIN CHEMERINSKY JENNIFER WEISS-WOLF

If the government were to require that only men or only women had to pay a tax of several hundred dollars a year solely because of their sex, that would be an unconstitutional denial of equal protection under the 14th Amendment. Yet that is exactly the effect of the so-called tampon tax. Currently, residents of 35 states must pay sales tax on purchases of tampons and pads because they are not deemed necessities worthy of an exemption. And that’s in addition to the roughly $5 to $10 for these products that women have to shell out each month. States collectively profit upwards of $150 million a year from taxing menstrual products. In California alone, women pay $20 million annually. The issue became a matter of fiscal negotiations in California. Back in May, Gov. Gavin Newsom wrote the cost of implementing a tax exemption for menstrual products into his proposed budget. The catch: It would last only for the duration of the budget, for two years. That move was backed by the Legislature, which had been trying unsuccessfully to pass a permanent exemption into law since 2016. The governor signed the budget on June 27. Temporary expenditure lines — subject to the whim of the state’s leadership — are not enough. The salestax-exempt status of menstrual products must be made permanent in California and adopted into law in every state. The issue is gaining traction globally. Back in 2015, Canada eliminated its national goods and services tax on menstrual products. Similar exemptions have since passed in diverse nations and economies, including Australia, India, Malaysia and South Africa. In the United States, where sales taxes are levied by each state, bills have been introduced in 32 legislatures since 2016 to exempt menstrual products from sales tax. Five succeeded: Connecticut, Florida, Illinois

and New York passed laws. Additionally, citizens of Nevada approved a 2018 ballot measure to accomplish the same. Another 10 states don’t tax menstrual products — either because they collect no sales tax at all, or because they’re included under general exemption categories. In 2019, tampon tax bills were introduced in 22 states with bipartisan and overwhelming

In Tennessee, legislators added insult to injury: After a tampon tax bill died there this year, a subsequent budget surplus was used to eliminate a gun ammunition tax, enabling the state to save its “hunters and shooters $500,000 annually across the state,” as one state representative explained to his constituents. public support. And yet, the legislative sessions ended with a dismal scorecard. In Tennessee, legislators added insult to injury: After a tampon tax bill died there this year, a subsequent budget surplus was used to eliminate a gun ammunition tax, enabling the state to save its “hunters and shooters $500,000 annually across the state,” as one state representative explained to his constituents.

As a matter of policy, compassion and common sense, most states explicitly exempt “necessities of life” from sales tax, with food and medicine at the top of the list. In some states, necessity exemptions include things such as bingo supplies, cotton candy, erectile dysfunction pills, gun club memberships and tattoos. Menstrual products certainly rank as a necessity for most women, for much of their lives. They are essential for attending school, working and functioning in society. But as a matter of law, the argument extends far deeper. The tampon tax amounts to sexbased discrimination in violation of the equal protection clause, both under state and federal constitutions — making it more than merely unfair or inequitable, but unconstitutional and therefore illegal. In 2016, five plaintiffs brought a class-action lawsuit against the New York State Department of Taxation making these

The suit points out that New York classifies men’s products like Viagra, Rogaine and dandruff shampoo as necessities. arguments. On March 3, five women filed a class action against the New York Taxation and Finance Department, claiming that the state should classify period pads and tampons as necessities.

A law that affects only one sex—or one race, or one religion—is inherently discriminatory. The suit points out that New York classifies men’s products like Viagra, Rogaine and dandruff shampoo as necessities. Failing to protect men and women equally through the tax system, the suit says, violates state tax laws, as well as state and United States constitutions. The case was withdrawn after the Legislature and Gov. Andrew Cuomo quickly responded to public outcry and passed legislation. But the central argument advanced in that case is valid, and it is one increasingly being made by legal scholars. It should be raised again in the courts. A law that affects only one sex — or one race, or one religion — is inherently discriminatory. U.S. Supreme Court Justice Antonin Scalia once famously remarked that a tax on yarmulkes is a tax on Jews. In the same vein, a tax on a product used only by women, and used by all (or the vast majority of) women for much of their lives, is a tax on women. Eliminating the discriminatory tampon tax isn’t a legislative nicety or a budgetary option. It is a legal mandate. Period.

30 States Tax Period Supplies but do not Tax These Items JENNIFER WEISS-WOLF

Our research turned up this almost implausible list of items specifically called out for exemptions by the same states that were taxing tampons at that time.

1 Photography services Alabama 3 Licorice Arizona 1

4 Private jet parts Colorado

5 Tattoos and piercings Georgia

6 Swimming pool and athletic facility admission Wyoming

7 Chainsaws (over $100) Idaho

8 Barbecue sunflower seeds Indiana

9 Kettle corn Iowa

10 Pixie sticks Kentucky

11 Fees for National Hot Rod Association Kansas

12 Specialty items for Mardi Gras events Louisiana

13 Bibles Maine

14 Leasing of films for public exhibition at motion picture theaters Virginia

15 Vending machine drinks Mississippi 13

2 Purchase of kegs by wholesale manufacturers of beer Arkansas

16 Bingo Supplies Missouri 18 Cowboy boots Texas 16

17 Zoo and aquarium admission Nebraska

19 Souvenirs at minor league baseball stadiums New Mexico

20 Meals served at fraternities and sororities North Carolina

21 Food coloring North Dakota

22 Amusement park rides South Carolina

23 Entry fees for rodeos South Dakota

24 Chewing gum West Virginia

25 Tickets to professional sporting events Oklahoma

26 Fishing tournament registration fees Tennessee

27 Gun club memberships Wisconsin

28 Erectile disfunction pills Hawaii

29 Donuts Maine

30 Garter belts Vermont

STRONGER TOGETHER Periods Don’t Stop for Pandemics EMMA GOLDBERG

Coronavirus has led to a rush on menstrual products. As with other supplies, those who can afford to hoard have done so, leaving women with lower incomes without basic essentials. Dana Marlowe was preparing her family’s home for quarantine, stocking up on food and school supplies, when she received an unexpected phone call: Would she trade a box of tampons for 36 homemade matzo balls? Her friend making the request was desperate. She had scoured all the pharmacies in her neighborhood for tampons and pads, but the shelves were picked clean. For Marlowe, who runs the nonprofit I Support the Girls, which collects donations of feminine hygiene products and bras for shelters, prisons and people in need, the plea set off alarm bells. It was clear that pandemic panic shopping was already causing shortages of menstrual products. Marlowe received over 600 emails from individuals around the country requesting donations because they couldn’t find tampons and pads in their local stores; while social service workers in California, New Jersey, New York and Washington, D.C., said they too were seeing women struggle with feminine hygiene needs. And the women hardest hit, Marlowe realized, would be those who had just lost their jobs and were straining to make ends meet. While the wealthy can stockpile goods, people who live paycheck to paycheck cannot. “Periods don’t stop for pandemics,” Marlowe said. “And in times of disasters, like global pandemics, it’s easy to overlook the basic essentials folks need for their dignity.” Just as the pandemic has disrupted work, school and social routines, so hoarding has interrupted the supply of menstrual products. Those who can afford to hoard have done so, leaving women who have lower incomes without supplies. For women who usually rely on free menstrual products — from a school nurse, say — that avenue is now closed. And those who might normally get menstrual products from shelters or social service centers are coming up empty as demand has surged. This has left organizations scrambling to order in bulk. Erin Lind, program coordinator at a domestic violence shelter in Orange County, Calif., said she recently went online to bulk order tampons and pads and received a frustrating alert: delays in online shipment. Marlowe’s

Illustration by Angela Bode

In times of disasters, like global pandemics, it’s easy to overlook the basic essentials folks need for their dignity. organization pitched in to bridge the gap, sending the shelter nearly 1,500 products last month. In partnership with the menstrual product company LOLA, Marlowe sent 100,000 supplies to Los Angeles, where the mayor’s office has added 1,600 emergency shelter beds in city recreation centers. She sent more than 2,000 products to the city of Trenton, N.J., which requested them for its women who are homeless. And she donated more than 24,000 products to the Salvation Army National Capital Area Command, which serves Washington, D.C., Maryland and Virginia.

“Normally a municipality or small city thinks of food drives or clothing drives, but the menstrual hygiene products are too often neglected,” said Reed Gusciora, the mayor of Trenton, in an interview. “These products are a right, not a privilege.” It’s especially important because women might feel ashamed requesting supplies, said Angela Soriano, a volunteer and donation drive manager at the Salvation Army in the D.C. area. Soriano has spent recent days coordinating donations for the young women who rely on social service programs that are now at risk of being canceled because of the coronavirus, like the Salvation Army’s summer camp. “If that camp doesn’t happen, what’s going to happen to those young girls getting their periods for the first time?” she wondered. Compounding the issue of access is price gouging. Marni Sommer, a professor of

sociomedical sciences at Columbia School of Public Health, recently received a call from a student telling her that she had seen the price for tampons in her local store jump $3 this month. In Alabama, the state attorney general teamed up with eBay to crack down on the inflated costs of essential goods like tampons.To be sure, there’s always an increased need for feminine hygiene products when disasters like hurricanes or other health crises strike. But the coronavirus pandemic is unlike previous disasters Marlowe has seen, because the tampon and pad shortage is affecting everyone. People unaccustomed to scrambling for menstrual supplies are desperately scanning the bare shelves in stores. “Stop hoarding menstrual products!” wrote I Support the Girls in a recent tweet.

Taking Collective Action EVE WALLACK

Period poverty doesn’t have a catchall solution. Promoting the supply of disposable products for the homeless does not acknowledge the fact that these same products are unhealthy for our environment, and sometimes even our bodies. Menstrual cups or cloth pads are a sustainable solution for those who have consistent access to clean water, soap, and privacy—but for those who lack access to these circumstances, sustainable products often bear a larger burden than they ease.

What You Can Do JENNIFER WEISS-WOLF EDITED BY EVE WALLACK

Speak out and speak up: Talk about periods. Talk about the dangers of not talking about periods. Talk about your own period (if you menstruate!) Periods are something that half the population experiences, but no one discusses, and this stigma hinders our ability to innovate on the issue. Share the testimonies you’ve now heard about those who have challenges managing or affording their periods. The louder and prouder we all are about claiming these stories, the harder they will be to ignore and further we will go toward eradicating stigma.

In addition, organic or all-natural products are often more expensive than your average brand. We must accept that a solution for one menstruator may not work well for another, and keep working to ensure that all who menstruate have access to safe, sustainable and accessible options. Though it is important to recognize the intricacies of these systems, we can’t let them hinder our willingness to help. There are tangible things you can

The pen (and the tampon) is mightier than the sword. Cement those words in writing. It’s one thing to hear them—but memorializing them in print is quite another. Write op-eds and letters to your local paper, school paper, and on sharing websites. Write poetry. Write action plans. Write to your representatives.

Be an educated and conscious consumer.

do—big and small—to help menstruators in your community access period products. I have provided resources below (with more on the back!) that outline some ways to help: like donating to a product drive, adding your names to petitions, and buying consciously. This publication will not change the world, indeed, no one project can. But we have to start somewhere, and I hope for some of you, that somewhere is here.

Host or donate to a collection drive.

Become a citizen of your local community and the world:

Start your own drive—at work or at school— or link up with your house of worship, local businesses, or any other community organizations to extend your reach. Talk to the staff at the shelters and food pantries in your neighborhood and ask what they need. Spend time with, be a friend to, and get to know those clients yourselves. Their stories will motivate you. (And then, share those stories!)

Keep up with and follow all the efforts to ensure periods aren’t a barrier for anyone, anywhere. Support the organizations around the globe that are addressing the problem with your dollars and time. Remember that these same issues exist in our own backyard, so always lend a hand locally, too.

Do your homework and aim to buy from companies that go above and beyond what’s required when it comes to product transparency—menstrual or otherwise—and that adhere to the highest standards in the products they sell and the values they embody and represent. I’ve helped by adding a few in the resources to the right.

Make the personal political.

CHAPTER 1 Two-Thirds of Poor U.S. Women Can’t Afford Menstrual Pads, E.J. Mundell

Prisons That Withhold Menstrual Pads Humiliate Women and Violate Basic Rights, Chandra Bozelko

CHAPTER 6 Taxing Tampons Isn’t Just Unfair, it’s Unconstitutional, Jennifer Weiss-Wolf & Erwin Chemerinsky

CHAPTER 2 How Do Homeless Women Cope with Their Periods? Janet Upadhye

The Unequal Price of Periods Menstrual Equity in the United States, ACLU

Petition your lawmakers to make menstrual products affordable and available. Sign the national tampon tax petition, “Stop Taxing Our Periods! Period.” Raise the issue of access with your local government representatives and agencies, and ask them to consider menstrual needs in the facilities they oversee. Demand the same of your state legislators and Congress members. Tweet at them, too. (After the #TweetTheReceipt campaign in New York, it really works!)

CREDITS & ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

Blood in the Streets Coping With Menstruation While Homeless, Jennifer Weiss-Wolf and Laura Epstein-Norris What It’s Like to Get Your Period When You’re Homeless: Four Women Tell All, Lane Moore CHAPTER 3 In Jail, Pads and Tampons as Bargaining Chips. Zoe Greenberg

Selected Excerpt, Chapter 5: Periods Gone Public, Jennifer Weiss-Wolf.

CHAPTER 4 State of the Period: The Widespread Impact of Period Poverty on U.S. Students, Thinx & PERIOD

CHAPTER 7 Selected Excerpt, Chapter 7: Periods Gone Public, Jennifer Weiss-Wolf.

“They’re as necessary as toilet paper’: New York City Council Approves Free Tampon Program, Katie Mettler

Periods Don’t Stop for Pandemics, so she Brings Pads to Women in Need, Emma Goldberg

CHAPTER 5 Free the Tampons, Nancy Kramer

Eve Wallack created this newspaper at the Sam Fox School of Design & Visual Arts at Washington University in St. Louis in April 2020. The typefaces used are Akkordeon Slab by EmType, Caslon Ionic by Commercial Type and Neue Haas Unica by Monotype. Advised by Chrissi Cowhey and Sarah Birdsall. The Periodical was commissioned as an academic project and will not be distributed or reproduced for commercial use. If you’d like to learn more about this issue, I’d recommend checking out Periods Gone Public by Jennifer Weiss-Wolf and Period Power by Nadya Okamoto.

YOU CAN HELP END PERIOD POVERTY Donate

Speak Out

Host a Drive If you’d like to do more than just donate online or ship what you’re able to collect on your own—host a product drive! Get some friends together, and better yet, link up with your house of worship or local business to extend your reach. And as a bonus, many of the organizations listed can provide you with resources to get started.

What makes addressing period poverty challenging is the stigma surrounding periods. If you menstruate, talk about your period! And if you don’t menstruate, try not to shy away from the conversation if it’s brought up. Everyone, regardless of sex or gender identity, should know what periods are and should feel comfortable talking about them—this is necessary in order to build inclusive communities, and the more we talk about this normal bodily function in our day to day lives, the closer we become to eradicating the stigma.

Be an Informed Consumer If you’re able, choose to buy your products from companies that are transparent about their ingredients or who perhaps also donate some of their products to those in need. Here are a few to check out: LOLA, Sustain Natural Aunt Flow, Always, U by Kotex and THINX.

U by Kotez commissioned a national survey that found that even though menstrual products are often listed on the donation wish list of many organizations, only a mere six percent of respondents have ever donated period products to homeless shelters. Three times as many said they had donated other toiletries. There are many non-profits that partner with local shelters and organizations to donate period supplies. Donating is easy, if you’re unable to collect products to ship, most organizations will accept monetary donations online. I’ve included a few local and national organizations working to provide period products to those who need them. I Support The Girls I Support the Girls is a national organization that donates bras, underwear and menstrual products to women who need them, including women experiencing homelessness, domestic violence, or those who are refugees. Since their founding in 2015, they have donated over 7 million menstrual products nationwide. St. Louis Alliance for Period Supplies St. Louis Alliance for Period Supplies is an initiative run out of the St. Louis Area Diaper Bank that partners with shelters to provide menstrual products to low-income women in the St. Louis area. Period.org This national organization works to end period poverty through partnering with local organizations as well as national companies (think, Always and Tampax) to donate period products. They also have a campus chapter program, with over 600 chapters across the U.S. working in advocacy and education on menstrual equity.

Make the Personal Political Petition your lawmakers to make period products affordable and accessible. Sign the national tampon tax petition, “Stop Taxing Our Periods! Period.” online at taxfreeperiod. com. You can also donate to Period Equity, the nation’s first law and policy organization fighting for menstrual equity.