Period Poverty is defined as a lack of access to menstrual products, education, hygiene facilities, waste management, or a combination of these. A study from BMC Women’s Health estimates that globally, 500 million people who menstruate suffer from period poverty (BMC Women’s Health). The right to health, which was first defined in the 1946 Constitution of the World Health Organization (WHO), is “a state of complete physical, mental and social well-being and not merely the absence of disease or infirmity…the enjoyment of the highest attainable standard of health is one of the fundamental rights of every human being without distinction of race, religion, political belief, economic or social condition.” In 1966, the right to health was once more recognized as a human right in the International Covenant on Economic, Social, and Cultural Rights. The social, economic, political, and cultural barriers to menstrual products, education, and sanitation point to a clear lack of fulfillment of the right to health. Period poverty is a global health crisis, but the shame and stigmas held in discussing menstruation mean that the issue goes largely unaddressed.
One organization that is working to advance menstrual equity is Days for Girls, an international organization operated by regional offices, volunteer-led Chapters and Teams, and locally-owned Social Enterprises worldwide (Days for Girls). To date, Days for Girls has served over 2.5 million women, girls, and people who menstruate in 144 countries across six continents. In an interview with Days for Girls’ chief communications officer Jessica Williams, Williams stated “in some cultures, there are traditions that advance stigmas and limitations associated with administrations… we’re really focused on shattering those stigmas and those beliefs that hold women and people with periods back from having the equality and equity that they rightfully deserve and that we feel is a human right.” Williams’ mention of cultural beliefs and traditions points to a challenge in expanding menstrual equity. Many cultures practice traditions that create shame around menstruation. For example, some rural communities in Nepal continue the banned practice of “Chhaupadi”, which is the banishing of menstruating women to separate accomodations during their period due to the belief that those women bring bad luck and natural disasters (Global Citizen). The question then becomes, how do organizations fighting period poverty conduct their work while continuing to respect these cultural beliefs? One way is to follow Days for Girls approach which is to center the local leaders that the organization partners with. “One of our values as an organization is to lean on the wisdom of others, those that we serve, and to really make sure that we’re not coming in with some sort of white savior complex and making sure that we are valuing the wisdom of others and putting them front and center in the conversation and letting them lead the work,” explains Williams.
In the fight to end period poverty, transgender and nonbinary menstruators are often left out of the conversation. It is often wrongly assumed that all menstruators are cisgender women. The experience of menstruating as a transgender person is stigmatized. Helping Women Period, an organization founded to foster menstrual equity in both Michigan and around the world, have experience with the inclusion of the LGBTQIA+ community in the space of menstrual equity. “It is important that we keep in mind that not all menstruators are women, and not all women menstruate,” says the founder of Helping Women Period, Lysne Tait. Michigan, where Helping Women Period primarily operates, has a large transgender population. When asked about how her organization includes the trans community in their work, Tait highlighted the importance of speaking and learning from the groups of transgender people in the community. “Being mindful of the language we use…trying our best to keep it neutral,” says Tait. This is something that anyone browsing the Helping Women Period website will see. As opposed to just saying women or girls who menstruate, the website uses the term menstruators, which includes all who menstruate.
Period poverty carries many stigmas, but one of the most important stigmas to highlight is the poverty stigma. A survey of low-income women in the U.S. found that almost two-thirds of said women could not afford menstrual products in the last year. Roughly half of these women sometimes had to choose between buying food and menstrual products. The “luxury tax” placed on menstrual products in the majority of the U.S. is a primary contributor to period poverty. A study on the menstrual product tax in the U.S. found that thirty-five states taxed menstrual products at rates between 4.70%; in Hawaii to 9.90%; in Louisiana, with a mean of 7.41% (Singh, Zhang, Segars). While Helping Women Period maintains a strong focus on distributing menstrual health products, they also hold and support multiple food drives throughout the year. At these drives, people in need have access to food as well as menstrual products. The organization’s website also has a resources tab where they share other organizations working to address the many issues related to menstrual equity such as ending the luxury tax on menstrual products.
Globally, people who live in low-income countries, particularly areas of the majority world, may experience increased period poverty. According to a report on the impact of period poverty on the economic empowerment of women, access to safe, clean, and private spaces for menstrual hygiene continues to be a global challenge. (Tull 2019). That same report also revealed that many workplaces in southeast Asia have inadequate workplace environments for menstrual hygiene. For example, a quarter of workplaces in Cambodia did not have toilets. This same shortage of adequate facilities resulted in about 13.8 million and 1.5 million workday absences in the Philippines and Vietnam. Days for Girls Social Entrepreneurship model uniquely addresses the poverty stigma. According to the Days for Girls website, the Social Entrepreneurship model supports local ownership, ensuring that communities are invested in meeting their own needs. DfG Social Entrepreneurs complete the DfG Social Entrepreneurship Program and go on to establish DfG Enterprises in their community. These enterprises generate income and jobs to support education, transportation, housing, and other resources (Days for Girls). When speaking to Williams about their Social Entrepreneurship model, we could instantly tell that it is something the organization is extremely passionate about. “We teach people how to run businesses, where they manufacture and distribute Days for Girls menstruation kits. They sell them in their community or they partner with organizations who buy them from these enterprises,” explains Williams. “We’re enabling women to have income, create jobs in their communities, and be leaders in their countries.”
By supporting organizations like Days for Girls and Helping Women Period, advocating for legislative changes, and working to get rid of these stigmas, we can all contribute to ending period poverty.
Resources:
Education/Research
Other Organizations
References:
“Constitution of the World Health Organization.” World Health Organization, World Health Organization, https://www.who.int/about/governance/constitution.
Foundation, Thomas Rueters. “Nepal Criminalizes Forcing Girls and Women into Menstrual Huts during Their Period.” Global Citizen, 10 Aug. 2017, https://www.globalcitizen.org/en/content/nepal-menstrual-huts-criminalized/.
Geng, Caitlin. “What Is Period Poverty?” Medical News Today, MediLexicon International, 16 Sept. 2021, https://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/period-poverty#what-is-it.
“Let Us Break the Taboos and Silence.” UNICEF Afghanistan, 30 Oct. 2018, https://www.unicef.org/afghanistan/stories/let-us-break-taboos-and-silence#:~:text=Menstruation%20is%20a%20normal%20part,are%20subject%20to%20child%20marriage.
Singh, B., et al. “Period Poverty and the Menstrual Product Tax in the United States [29F]: Semantic Scholar.” Undefined, 1 Jan. 1970, https://www.semanticscholar.org/paper/Period-Poverty-and-the-Menstrual-Product-Tax-in-the-Singh-Zhang/28bfd95edc0ae77d6f6399854d23fe21d4df3a53.
Tull, Kerina. Period Poverty Impact on the Economic Empowerment of Women – GOV.UK. 23 Jan. 2019, https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/media/5c6e87b8ed915d4a32cf063a/period.pdf.
