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Guilt, shame and fear are three emotions that Madeline Barrasso said women experiencing poverty feel when their access to menstrual hygiene products is limited.

Barrasso, the program manager of I Support the Girls — an international organization that collects and distributes bras, underwear and menstrual hygiene products to women and girls experiencing poverty — worked with one woman experiencing financial abuse who had to choose between food and menstrual products, she said.

Another woman wrote to Barrasso saying that she has been forced to use leaves instead of menstrual products because she’s homeless. Barrasso has also heard of women who use socks, napkins or one menstrual product for their entire period, which she said can result in bacterial infections and other health issues.

Since March 2020, I Support the Girls has reported a 35% increase in requests for menstrual products and has collected and distributed over 2 million. The organization operates in at least 59 affiliate locations, including in Syracuse.

“Periods don’t stop for anything,” Barrasso said. “They don’t stop for violence. They don’t stop for hurricanes. They don’t stop for poverty. They don’t stop for pandemics. They’re going to keep going. So, we need a safe and healthy way to create equal access.”

Terri Lawless, the affiliate director of the I Support the Girls branch in Syracuse, said that it’s difficult for impoverished women and girls to improve their situations without the necessary feminine hygiene products.

“If you are bleeding and have nothing to use, you can’t go to work,” Lawless said.

Before the pandemic, Lawless began putting together a pilot program in Syracuse to place menstrual products in bathrooms. She’s heard people say that, if products are put out for anyone to take, they will be stolen by people who are not in desperate need of them.

“If women or girls are stealing menstrual hygiene products, they’re not stealing them for craft projects or not stealing them for making jewelry or anything like that,” Lawless said. “They’re stealing them because they need them.”

When she was a school nurse, Lawless said she saw twin sixth graders take pads from the health office bathroom. She didn’t mind them taking the products because she knew they were in a tight situation.

“They didn’t want to ask mom to have to start spending, you know, five or six bucks a bag on pads,” she said.

The lack of access to period products disproportionately affects people who are low-income, incarcerated or homeless, said Breanne Fahs, a women and gender studies professor at Arizona State University and one of the authors of The Palgrave Handbook of Critical Menstruation Studies, in an email.

In the U.S., menstrual products, which are already expensive, also come with associated pink taxes, a term used to describe the inflated prices of products marketed to women as opposed to those marketed to men. New York state banned the pink tax in October, 2020.

“Having subsidized or free menstrual products needs to be a big priority, and many governmental bodies are taking this up throughout the world,” Fahs said.

In 2019, about 31% of the total population in Syracuse reported experiencing poverty, and about 32% of women in Syracuse reported experiencing poverty, census data shows.

“COVID has also strained people’s budgets, which has led to less money to go around for toiletries, groceries and bills, all of which indirectly impact people’s ability to buy products,” Fahs said.

I Support the Girls collects and donates products to shelters, and the organization’s headquarters provides kits to women in need.

The Dignity, Aid, Security and Hygiene Kit — which includes bras, underwear, menstrual products, a mask, at least one extra toiletry item based on availability (for example, mascara) and a reusable bag — is for survivors of domestic violence. The organization also offers a Flash Kit aimed toward perimenopausal women.

Period poverty is not an issue limited to Syracuse, said Lindsay Weiss, the affiliate director of the Kansas City branch of I Support the Girls.

“There are so many really great organizations doing direct services with people experiencing domestic violence or homelessness or any other hardship,” Weiss said. “We’re happy to connect with them and help them in any way we can.”

Weiss said she spoke to a woman living in a shelter after getting out of a domestic abuse situation. The woman had a job interview and did not own a bra, so she was forced to wear a swimsuit under her clothes, Weiss said.

Barrasso said institutions like Syracuse University can help address period poverty by expanding access to free menstrual products. SU’s Student Association has been discussing initiatives to provide free menstrual products on campus this year.

Other needs of low-income menstruators need to be taken into consideration as well, Fahs said. These issues include access to medical care, the ability to speak with a doctor about heavy periods or endometriosis, pain management of cramps and work accommodations during difficult or heavy periods.

“These kinds of questions move outside of the realm of products and into the realm of other meaningful forms of discrimination and lack of menstrual support,” Fahs said.

One of the best ways to normalize menstruation is to talk about it, Barrasso and Lawless said. Lawless said it’s also important to begin educating girls about menstruation when they’re younger and to ensure that boys are educated about it too.

“You’re going to be always surrounded by 51% of us who will bleed monthly,” she said.

The more that people talk about menstruation and period poverty, the more normalized it will become, Lawless said.

“Everyone deserves dignity,” Lawless said. “They deserve to be treated respectfully. They deserve to have their needs met and to be able to feel good about themselves. If you’re in a situation where you can’t afford to take care of your basic hygiene needs, you can’t possibly feel dignified.”

Published on April 11, 2021 at 11:45 pm

Contact Kailey: kmnorusi@syr.edu