User:Koketso K. Masenya/Period poverty

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Period poverty is a term used to describe a lack of access to proper menstrual products and the education needed to use them effectively. The American Medical Women's Association defines it as "the inadequate access to menstrual hygiene tools and educations, including but not limited to sanitary products, washing facilities, and waste management". The lack of access to menstrual hygiene products can cause physical health problems, such as infections and reproductive tract complications, and can have negative social and psychological consequences, including missed school or work days and stigma. Probably add some statistics on how many women are affected by period poverty.

To effectively manage their menstruation, girls and women require access to water, sanitation and hygiene (WASH) facilities, affordable and appropriate menstrual hygiene materials, information on good practices, and a supportive environment where they can manage menstruation without embarrassment or [https://www.worldbank.org/en/topic/water/brief/menstrual-health-and-hygiene#:~:text=On%20any%20given%20day%2C%20more,menstrual%20hygiene%20management%20(MHM). stigma].

Period poverty intersects heavily with gender equality and economic justice worldwide. The inaccessibility of menstrual products can perpetuate the cycle of poverty by limiting education and employment opportunities. Individuals from marginalised communities are disproportionally affected by period poverty; these include people who are experiencing homelessness, refugees and those living in rural or remote areas. It has numerous causes and consequences that are far-reaching and reveal a lot about the lack of resources regarding menstruation. Particularly since the 2000s, period poverty has become an issue that governments and other actors have tackled worldwide, both separate from and within the proliferation of gender equality.

Period poverty and homelessness
Period poverty is an intersectional issue and unhoused women experiencing it have trouble accessing menstrual products due to economic constraints. Single women makeup a quarter of those experiencing homelessness in the UK; in the USA, it is a similar percentage as women account for 28% of the homeless population. Women experiencing homelessness struggle with access to menstrual products; shelters either lack or run out of menstrual products, access to public toilets can sometimes be tricky and often homelessness women resort to theft to obtain menstrual products. Another common issues amongst homeless women is finding a safe space to effectively manage menstruation. It is difficult to find a clean, private space to utilize and change menstrual products. Homeless women report that public toilets are unsanitary and are not fit for changing their menstrual products. Additionally, the stigma around homelessness means often they are turned away from public and privately owned bathrooms. Sometimes makeshift pads constructed from clothing material, rags or waddled toilet paper are used as a substitute for menstrual products. Homeless women could feel uncomfortable asking staff at shelters for menstrual products; this can be a result of uneven power dynamics as well as the sociocultural stigmas around menstruation. Shelters themselves struggle with inconsistent supplies and can often resort to rationing menstrual supplies due to shipping failures. Improper period management can lead to adverse health effects, leaving a tampon in for too long can result in toxic shock syndrome or urinary tract infections, infrequent washing can cause skin infections and many other complications. These issues are exacerbated when an individual is unhoused.

Transgender and non-binary menstruating- can add to period poverty but also not feeling comfortable about asking for products.

Period Poverty in Prisons
Globally, 740,000 women and girls are held in prison. The USA accounts for roughly 30% of the world's incarcerated women with about 211,375 female prisoners according to 2022 data. Countries with similar high rates of female prisoners are China with an estimated 145,000 (plus unknown women and girls held in pre-trial detention and administrative detention), Brazil (42,694), Russia (39,120) and Thailand (32,952). Understanding period poverty is to also acknowledge that not only women and girls menstruate but also transgender and non-binary people do as well. Period poverty in prisons arises from a penal system that weaponises menstruation as a form of oppression and punishment. Prisons often have an inadequate supply of menstrual products, increased pricing of menstrual products and poor quality of tools to manage menstruation.

Allotments for tampons and pads don't take into consideration the different requirements and needs of individuals to effectively manage their menstrual cycle. This results in incarcerated individuals having to bleed through their clothes or resorting to use unsuitable measures to manage their periods. Limited or deprivation of access to menstrual products leads to women in prisons using ripped bedsheets, mattress stuffing, ripped bedsheets, socks, toilet paper and soiled, days-old tampons. In the Ivory Coast, women have severely limited or no access to menstrual products and due to overcrowding, the risk of infections is incredibly high.

As menstrual products aren't handed out freely and given at the will of prison staff, it has been documented that some prison guards have exchanged menstrual products for sexual favours or raped inmates. This demonstrates the unequal power dynamics between inmates and prison staff. In 2020, federal officer Colin Akparanta pled guilty to sexually abusing inmates in exchange for feminine hygiene products.

The carceral system still operates on a sex-segregated manner whereby an individual’s biologically assigned legal sex dictates where they will be placed in the facility. There's little regard for differential experiences according to sexual orientation, gender identity, or gender expression. Given that menstruation is often assumed to be a process largely experienced by women, access to menstrual products for transgender and non-binary is far worse and often non-existent. This intersects with the denial and misgendering of trans and non-binary identities in the carceral system.

In the 2018, The First Step Act was passed in the USA. This legislation states that all federal prisons should make tampons and sanitary products available free of charge. Belgium

Period Poverty amongst non-binary, intersex and transgender individuals
Period poverty is often discussed in the context of cisgender women. However, menstruation and period poverty itself extends its impact to transgender, non-binary, and intersex individuals. It's important to highlight the complexity of varying gendered experiences surrounding menstruation. For these marginalised groups, accessing safe and accommodating spaces to manage menstruation can be fraught with challenges that can exacerbate feelings of insecurity and exclusion.

Accessing inclusive and affirming healthcare remains a significant hurdle for transgender, non-binary, and intersex individuals experiencing menstruation. Despite efforts to accommodate diverse gender identities, misgendering and insensitive inquiries about menstruation persist, contributing to a sense of alienation and discomfort within healthcare settings.

Transgender, non-binary, intersex experience period poverty in tandem with discrimination and stigma due to their identities. Trans, non-binary, gender fluid, and intersex individuals have unique challenges when it comes to period poverty. First, is the lack of data collection as menstrual equity projects tend to only collect data related to women and girls. This makes it difficult to understand the intersectionality of period poverty and how menstruators who aren't women are impacted by their inability to access menstrual products and WASH facilities. There's often la ack of support and understanding of how period poverty impacts transgender, non-binary and intersex individuals. The consequences of this is the scarcity of targeted support programs and resources to address menstrual needs and hygiene requirements.

Financial barriers add to the difficulty of accessing menstrual products as trans, non-binary and intersex people who already face economic constraints related to their gender identity, such as healthcare and other gender-affirming expenses. Transgender and non-binary people are more likely to live in poverty than cisgender people, this exacerbates issues related to period poverty. Trans, non-binary, gender fluid, and intersex individuals face challenges accessing gender-affirming healthcare, such as hormone replacement therapy (HRT) and gender-affirming surgeries, which can be costly and leave them with fewer resources to effectively address their menstrual health needs. Menstruation isn't the only reason trans and non-binary people need menstrual products; trans women and non-binary people may also need pads and liners after vaginoplasty or for other reasons.

Gendered bathrooms present significant safety concerns for transgender, non-binary, and intersex individuals during menstruation. Men's restrooms often lack discreet disposal options for period products, while women's restrooms may not feel safe for those who do not conform to traditional gender expectations. A study done on menstruation management for queer individuals found that 66% of respondents who used men's bathroom felt unsafe using them to change menstrual products; 39% of respondents who used female bathrooms felt uncomfortable doing so. Menstrual products are gendered as products for women thus they are often not placed in men's bathrooms. This dilemma underscores a critical aspect of period poverty: the lack of accessible and safe restroom facilities for all gender identities.

The experience of menstruation intersects deeply with gender identity, shaping how transgender and genderqueer individuals perceive themselves and are perceived by others. Social interactions, public spaces, and even healthcare encounters can reinforce gender norms, complicating the already challenging experience of menstruation for these individuals. Packaging, designs, commercials, and “feminine product” aisles in stores serve as indicators to transgender, non-binary and intersex people that a biological aspect of their bodies is deeply tied to social norms and expectations of femininity and womanhood. In 2020, Always removed the Venus female symbol from the packaging from their menstruation products after protests from LGBTQI activists. LGBTQI activists pleas to remove the symbol was a call to make the brands labelling more inclusive for transgender and non-binary customers.