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Period equity: What it is and why it matters

Dernière mise à jour : 18 juin 2022


It’s happened to so many people who menstruate: you’re going about your life until you realize that you just got your period. The ungainly scramble to find a restroom and the fervent prayer that you packed a menstrual product leaves you feeling anxious, vulnerable, and exposed. This is compounded by the fact that our society stigmatizes menstruation — or really, anything to do with a uterus — and a taboo hangs over these discussions.


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This scenario is far worse if you are one of the nearly 22 million women living in poverty in the US who cannot afford menstrual hygiene products, a problem known as period poverty. One study in Obstetrics & Gynecology demonstrated that 64% of women reported ever having difficulty affording menstrual products, such as pads, tampons, or reusable products like menstrual cups. And 21% reported that they were unable to afford these products every month. People who are homeless or incarcerated are at particularly high risk of not having access to adequate menstrual hygiene products. Why are period products a luxury? Menstruating is a basic fact of human existence. Menstrual hygiene products are necessities, not luxuries, and should be treated as such. Unfortunately, food stamps and subsidies under the WIC (women, infants, and children) program that help with groceries do not cover menstrual products.



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