June 13, 2025

Period Equity Starts with Access

Period hygiene products — like pads, tampons, and liners — are essential to daily life, not optional. And yet, in many places, they’re still treated like extras instead of basics. From schools to shelters to public bathrooms, far too many people don’t have easy or reliable access to what they need to manage their period with dignity.

What Is Period Poverty?

Period poverty is the inability to access or afford menstrual products. It can mean:

– Missing school because you don’t have pads or tampons

– Using makeshift materials like tissue or socks

– Stretching a product longer than it’s meant to be worn

– Feeling ashamed or excluded because of something you can’t control

This happens more than you think. In the U.S., 1 in 5 teens has struggled to afford period products or know someone who has. Globally, millions miss school every month because they don’t have what they need. The impacts are severe. Lack of hygiene products can lead to infections, missing out on education, and have a tremendous effect on your menstrual health.

Why It Affects Teens the Most

Teens often rely on parents, schools, or community spaces to get what they need. But when families can’t afford products, or when schools don’t stock bathrooms with supplies, young adults are left to improvise, or stay home.

And the stigma around asking for help makes it worse. People stay quiet, embarrassed, or afraid of judgment, leading to periods becoming a source of stress instead of something natural.

Schools and Public Spaces Must Do Better

Period products should be available:

– In every school bathroom

– At community centers and libraries

– In public bathrooms, the same way toilet paper is

Some places (like Scotland and a few U.S. cities) have made menstrual products free and accessible in schools. However, it’s still rare to find period products in public spaces, when it shouldn’t be.

Access to hygienic products shouldn’t depend on your zip code, your school district, or your family’s income. It should be a right.

What You Can Do

– Ask your school/school district to stock free pads and tampons in bathrooms

– Start or join a donation drive for local shelters or schools

– Support and volunteer for brands and organizations that work to end period poverty

No one should have to feel ashamed, miss school, or struggle in silence because they don’t have what they need to manage their period. Menstrual products are not a nice-to-have, they’re a need. Ensuring that every student, teen, and person who menstruates has access to them is one of the clearest ways we can promote equality, health, and care in our communities.