Author: Emily Spears

Emily Spears is an intern at the California Women’s Law Center and Ms. Magazine. She graduated this year from UCLA with a B.A. in Sociology and minors in Philosophy and Gender Studies.

The Period Project: Menstrual Equity in Schools

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In the last of our three-part series on menstrual equity, highlighting our Period Project research study and forthcoming Period Project Report Cards, we report on schooling and access to menstrual products.

Within the last five years, over a dozen states passed laws to require that menstrual products be made available free of charge in at least some schools—up from zero. State laws requiring access to menstrual products free of charge represent a crucial component of ending period poverty and achieving menstrual equity.  

The Period Project: The Fight for Menstrual Equity in Prisons

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Although only 5 percent of the world’s female population lived in the United States, it accounts for nearly 30 percent of the world’s incarcerated women. Inadequate and inaccessible menstrual products remain a pervasive issue in the U.S. carceral system. Our research shows few states have taken action to address the issue and enforcement lags behind laws that mandate access to menstrual supplies.

(This is the second article in a three-part series on the Period Project, which examines the scope and consequences of period poverty and assesses state progress toward achieving menstrual equity through legislation.)

The Period Project: Period Poverty and the Fight for Menstrual Equity

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Access to affordable menstrual products remains a persistent issue. That’s why we’re launching the Period Project—which uses original research to develop “Period Project Report Cards,” assigning each state and the District of Columbia a grade on an A–F scale to evaluate their progress toward menstrual equity.

(This article is the first in a three-part series introducing the Period Project, which examines the scope and consequences of period poverty and assesses state progress toward achieving menstrual equity through legislation.)