The Will to End Period Poverty
Containers holding menstrual products in on-campus bathrooms. (Photo taken by Alejandra Gonzalez)
Periods.
Seven letters that can cause people to cringe or shush you if you talk too loud about it. But it should not have to be that way.
Periods are the monthly vaginal bleeding that follows women from their teens to, possibly, their mid-fifties. And most importantly, it’s absolutely normal and healthy!
Unfortunately, there are some who do not acknowledge that fact. There are people around the world that put a stigma and shame onto something women cannot control.
In the rural parts of Nepal, villages practice Chhaupadi, an ancient tradition that makes females stay in a small hut in isolation for the duration of their period.
Without having the proper healthy resources, girls in Rwanda miss up to 50 or more days of school and work every year because of their periods. This situation called period poverty includes not having access to sanitary products and not having a safe and hygienic place to use them.
Although ActionAid is the primary organization that is currently helping these young girls, Elon is also trying to promote the end of period poverty on campus.
If you walk into the majority of the bathrooms on campus you will sometimes see a container that holds tampons and pads. On that container, there is a sign that says, “FREE MENSTRUAL HEALTH PRODUCTS...This program will only succeed only if you take what you need!”
We spoke with Louisa Sholar, the Student Government Association vice president, to speak about this amazing movement on campus.
Sholar shares that two Elon alumni, Rebecca Fliega ‘19 and Sophie Zinn ‘19, researched the pilot and encouraged a group of senators and student group members to stock on-campus bathrooms with these products. Sholar was part of the group that stocked the products.
“They were pursuing the project in light of the pink tax and the belief that all students should have access to menstrual products in educational settings in order to help support students' health and wellbeing,” Sholar said.
Menstrual products sold in stores. (Photo taken by Carlyn Marinaccio)
The pink tax that she mentions describes the amount of extra money that women have to pay for a specific product or service. This is also referred to as price discrimination and gender-pricing.
If you did not know before, the pink tax extends to a variety of products; clothes, shampoo, razors, lotions, deodorant, body wash and pads/tampons are some examples of pink-taxed products.
Ever since the alumni began the first phase of the initiative, it has been slowly but surely growing. Now, the SGA has funded the necessary means in order to continue. Instead of having volunteers install the products, Physical Plant now distributes them.
“I think this is one of the most important initiatives SGA has taken on in the past few years,” Sholar says. “Menstrual health and the well-being of students should be everyone's top concern.”
Sholar expresses that people may not realize the type of financial and mental stress that is connected to not being able to afford or obtain accessible products. She refers back to the pink tax and says that it is a clear example of gender-based price discrimination that unfairly forces people to pay more than what they need to for their basic needs.
How can you help and take action here on campus? Sholar encourages students to research national movements that strive to end period poverty and other injustices like the pink tax. She mentions that students should also take any satisfaction surveys they may see on campus flyers. Sholar said that by being vocal about our appreciation of the program, we can help extend it through its testing period and make it an official program under SGA. Speaking up and responding makes an impact.
“I hope this [pilot program] provides some relief to students locally but also draws attention to those larger conversations and advocacy efforts,” Sholar says.