Several proposals were made to combat the period poverty crisis during a panel discussion with United States Representative, Grace Meng and menstrual hygiene experts at the Queens Public Library earlier this month. Food Bank For New York City hosted the panel discussion during its Woman to Woman initiative surrounding the menstrual hygiene products affordability crisis and how people can lend their support.
Menstrual equity experts, local leaders and advocates including New York Times Women’s Health and Wellness Reporter Alisha Haridasani Gupta, U.S. Representative Grace Meng, Chief of Women’s Health Officer at NYC Health + Hospitals, Dr. Wendy Wilcox, Chief Executive Officer, For Women by Women, Period Carrington Baker and Executive Director at NYU Law’s Birnbaum Women’s Leadership Network, Jennifer Weiss Wolf participated in the event at QPL’s Central Library, 89-11 Merrick Boulevard, Jamaica, NY.
Period poverty has been identified as a nationwide crisis that is affecting women and girls around the world and in New York City. They often lack access to hygienic menstrual products, sometimes due to stigma and sanctions in their communities. The term period poverty also refers to the struggle low-income women and girls face when trying to afford menstrual products. Therefore, the inflation has caused a sharp increase in the prices of these products, which has added to the financial hardship that they already faced.
The event was part of Food Bank for New York City’s Woman to Woman campaign, which seeks to educate the public on the issue and raise critical funds to provide New Yorkers with much-needed period products, hygiene essentials, and childcare necessities. The conversation shed the light on the 4.5 million women between the ages of 15 and 49, with 18 percent of these women more likely to live in poverty, with Black and Hispanic women being particularly vulnerable. Due to this, they have a harder time paying for proper period care every month. According to these experts, this issue is an ongoing crisis throughout the five boroughs of New York City.
For instance, “Black women have more fibroids than any other women, which may lead to them having more frequent menstruation and for longer,” stated Dr. Wilcox.
“The lack of access to hygiene products and period poverty in New York City are not discuss enough. As well as the physical, mental, and emotional impact that it has on individuals and families facing poverty and food insecurity. Additionally, when people don’t have access to the right products, it can lead to more urinary tract infections (UTI) or yeast infections. For instance, using newspaper, socks or rags during period is not healthy and it can cause various infections,” said Baker.
Baker was inspired to launch her company after watching a YouTube video about how homeless women deal with their menstruation. After this, she formed a movement to end the stigma associated with periods. Baker stated, “growing up in a rural southern area, people didn’t talk about periods. I soon realized that different cultural backgrounds have their own stigmas surrounding periods, which can prevent women from seeking the help they need.”
Wolf, executive director at NYU Law’s Birnbaum women’s leadership network who coined the term menstrual equity, noted that, “in 2015, we were determined to bring this issue to the table and show how this issue plays out in every corner of life. However, the biggest challenge is the lack of conversation around it,” said Weiss.
Several attendees from the audience emphasized that young girls and women would withdraw from regular activities, skip classes, or call out sick from their jobs. As the government does not have a program to cover the cost of period products in the same way it does for food insecurity like SNAP.
As a solution to this problem, Congresswoman Grace Meng of the 6th District in Queens has introduced a legislation in the House to support a bill that would make these products more widely available. Menstrual Equity for All Act of 2021. This bill aims to help diverse populations of women and girls afford and access needed menstrual products, including tampons, pads, and many other items. The purpose is to solve the problem in a multifaceted approach. The bill contains numerous components, including:
Giving states the option to use federal grant funds to provide students with free menstrual products in schools — these grants already provide funding for health and wellness efforts.
Incentivizing colleges and universities to implement pilot programs that provide free menstrual products to students.
Ensuring that incarcerated individuals and detainees in federal (including immigration detention centers), state, and local facilitates have access to free menstrual products, including requiring guidance on distribution.
Allowing homeless assistance providers to use grant funds that cover shelter necessities (such as blankets and toothbrushes) to also use that money to purchase menstrual products.
Requiring Medicaid to cover the cost of menstrual products.
Directing large employers (with 100 or more employees) to provide free menstrual products for their employees in the workplace and requiring all public federal buildings, including buildings in the U.S. Capitol complex, to provide free menstrual products in restrooms.
A 2019 study found that nearly half of low-income women in a major U.S. city had to choose between buying groceries and spending money on menstrual products. The people who attended this panel discussing learned how they can support the Food Bank’s Woman to Woman campaign and help make a difference in their community. For those interested in breaking down barriers to ensure access to hygiene products and how the public can help to reduce period poverty.
Please check out this link : https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1N-RFo2YXjE&t=9s or https://www.foodbanknyc.org/womantowoman/
