To live in a world that champions progress and equality, yet denies millions of women and girls the means to manage a natural bodily function is a profound contradiction. Across the globe, in a variety of socioeconomic areas, young girls still lack access to affordable menstrual products and basic sanitation facilities, forcing them to miss school and suffer preventable health consequences. A recent study conducted by Thinx, Inc. & PERIOD, reports that a quarter of teenage girls across the United States struggle to afford menstrual products. The question that arises is simple: how can something so fundamental to human biology continue to dictate opportunity and dignity?
The persistence of period poverty stems from a societal stigma that labels feminine necessities as “luxuries.” The “pink tax,” referring to the significant price gap between products marketed towards men and those for women, extends even to basic hygiene products such as body wash and razors. A government study analyzed that, on average, personal care designed for women costs 13% more expensive than similar men’s products.
Even in public spaces, worldwide, women often face barriers to basic hygiene. In most restrooms, pads or tampons can only be dispensed for a fee (typically twenty-five cents) regardless of need or circumstance. Toilet paper and running water are freely provided, yet menstrual products, essential for managing a normal bodily function, are not.
As with all things that are free of cost, concerns may arise that offering free menstrual products in public restrooms may invite theft or hoarding. Some taxpayers may even go as far as arguing that this will be exacerbated by the higher cost to produce and purchase pads and tampons compared to toilet paper. While this concern reflects a logistical reality, it does not justify restricting access to items that are essential to a woman’s health, dignity, as well as productivity. Similar objections were made when schools began providing free lunch; yet this solution to youth malnutrition proved to be beneficial to the health and learning of children.
Implementations of timed or limited dispensers with the addition of regular inventory have been proven in nations outside the United States. Scotland, for example, passed the Period Products Act in 2021, legally requiring public institutions, including schools, to provide free menstrual and sanitary products. The probability of misuse does not outweigh necessity, especially with regulations to prevent such happenings. The bottom line is that menstrual products must be treated as any other public resource that taxpayers are entitled to.
In developing nations, the consequences are far more severe. Girls are forced to rely on rags, mattress stuffing, or scraps of newspaper to manage their periods. These unsafe alternatives often lead to infections and fail to prevent leaks. Trapped within deep-rooted cultural taboos surrounding menstruation, many choose to skip school rather than risk the public shame of bleeding through their clothes.
“I’m not going to leave my house to go to school if I know there’s a 99.9% chance I’m going to stain myself,” Goitseone Maikano said, a recent university graduate who grew up in Botswana. Interviewing dozens of girls in East Africa about menstruation, Journalist Trisha Mukherjee found that each of them echoed this sentiment.
Beyond financial barriers lies the deeper issue of humiliation. Menstruation must be normalized if girls and women are ever to live freely, without fear or shame during their cycles. For too long, this stigma has impeded the education and empowerment of girls worldwide.
While efforts toward tackling period poverty have emerged, such as providing free menstrual products in select public restrooms and distributing pads to impoverished communities, these attempts often fall short. The products are frequently low-quality, flimsy, and prone to leakage. This is merely a gesture of appeasement rather than change.
This global epidemic can no longer remain on hold. Women and girls across the world continue to pay the price for a biological reality they cannot control. Dignity should not be determined by one’s access to a pad.