Free the Period! What You Need To Know About Menstrual Equity From A Public Health Lens
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by Isabella Lopez Illustration & Design: Veronica Richmond
cotland recently made headlines for being the first country to make pads and tampons free of cost for everyone. Known as the “Period Products Act,” the bill mandates all government bodies, universities, and educational institutions to have a variety of period products available in their bathrooms. Mobile apps have also been developed to find the nearest locations where free period products are available. Wth the enactment of this bill, Scotland now leads in providing equitable access to menstrual hygiene products on a national scale. Other leaders in this movement, such as Kenya and New Zealand, have only paved ways to provide access in public schools. In many countries, including the United States, people pay a relatively high cost to access and use these products. Scotland’s initiative is just one of many around the world fighting to end period poverty. What is period poverty? It is the lack of access to period products due to high costs and lack of available resources. Millions of people around the world face issues with period poverty, especially menstruators who experience socio-economic poverty, homelessness, pre-existing health conditions, and/or incarceration. Globally, many individuals have difficulty other available community resources. Five hundred million women around the world lack access
to menstrual products and hygiene facilities. About seventeen million U.S. citizens experience period poverty and live in impoverished areas. Out of these, a third have not been able to acquire period products in the past year. Many individuals end up choosing between purchasing period products or food and other basic necessities. To show how prevalent it is for the demographic of the majority of this magazine’s readers, 14.2% of college-aged menstruators have experienced period poverty in the past year. With the COVID-19 pandemic, these disparities have widened greatly. Accessibility issues have only been exacerbated, and resources have become more limited. According to a 2020 study conducted by the non-profit Plan International UK, during the first nation-wide lockdown, a third of females between the ages of 14 and 21 struggled to afford or gain access to period products. In the United States, pandemic measures such as quarantine and social distancing have led to a phenomenon called loneliness that refers to individuals experiencing different types of barriers that have prevented equitable access to appropriate health care. In the case of menstrual health and hygiene, these include social factors (such as embarrassment or fear of embarrassment), environmental factors (lack of sanitary facilities or waste management), and cultural factors (taboo stigmas and religious isolation).
14.2% of college-aged menstruators have experienced period poverty in the past year.
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