The Period Project — The Policy Project

We are working to end period poverty in our lifetime.

THE PERIOD PROJECT CAMPAIGN: ACCESS TO PERIOD PRODUCTS IN SCHOOLS, WORKPLACES, AND PUBLIC SPACES.

Basic period product needs for girls, women, and menstruators have been largely overlooked in our systems. Experiencing “Period Poverty” (the lack of access to menstrual products), leads to lowered confidence and continuous disruptions in education, community participation, and workplace productivity.

Period products are as necessary to menstruators as toilet paper.

Similar to a spontaneous bloody nose, menstruation is an involuntary monthly physical occurrence for every menstruator that disrupts school, work, and all activity if unmanaged.

OUR INITIATIVES

PUBLIC & CHARTER SCHOOLS

Through an innovative partnership with the Utah Legislature and private donors, Utah Period Project led the effort to pass H.B. 162 which requires free period products be provided for students in every girls’ and all-gender restroom in Utah public and charter K-12 schools.
PUBLIC BUILDINGS

In March 2023, Utah Governor Spencer Cox and The Period Project announced that Utah will be the first state in the U.S. to offer free period products in all state-owned buildings. We are also working with city and town leadership on increasing access to period products in municipal buildings across the state of Utah.
PERIOD POSITIVE WORKPLACES

Through this global campaign, we are working to increase equity, inclusivity and productivity in the workplace by inviting businesses to recognize the biological needs created by menstruation and create supportive environments for women, girls and people who menstruate.
HIGHER EDUCATION CAMPUSES

1 in 10 college students are unable to afford period products every month. We are working alongside student leaders and administrators at Utah technical colleges, community colleges, and universities to ensure period products are provided in campus bathrooms state-wide.
SHELTERS & EMERGENCY HOUSING

We are working with local shelters including The Road Home and the VOA to pilot programs to provide period products free of charge to shelter residents. We also connect groups looking to donate period products to shelters and service providers in need of period products.
UTAH CORRECTIONS SYSTEM

Ensuring access to period products within the state corrections system is an important part of our efforts to end period poverty. We have met with leadership from Utah Corrections and discussed their policy of open access to period products in restrooms. We continue to monitor access for inmates.

Utah is now the first U.S. state to offer free period products in all state owned buildings. The announcement was made March 2, 2023, by Governor Cox and Lieutenant Governor Henderson, along with advocates at The Policy Project. The action marks an important step forward in ending period poverty in the state. The Governor’s office is working to implement the new policy in Utah executive, legislative, and judicial buildings.

STATE BUILDINGS

Period Positive Workplace is the effort for every company to provide period products—like they provide toilet paper—to their employees and patrons. The Policy Project started the program in the U.S. in 2022 and has now launched a global campaign with international partner organizations.

LEARN MORE

School-age girls are at the highest risk for mis- or under-managed menstruation, as almost ALL begin their periods before they are able to legally work and they rarely have control over family finances or the ability to drive to a store to purchase period products.

Lack of access to period products leads to missed school, health risks, lower confidence, shame, embarrassment, and missing out on myriad beneficial programs thoughtfully put in place for students.

PUBLIC & CHARTER SCHOOLS

THE BREAKDOWN

OF STUDENTS HAVE MISSED CLASS DUE TO A LACK OF ACCESS TO PERIOD PRODUCTS OR KNOW SOMEONE WHO HAS.

84%

23%

OF TEENAGERS IN THE U.S. CANNOT AFFORD PERIOD PRODUCTS AT ALL

OF STUDENTS FEEL LIKE THEIR SCHOOL DOES NOT CARE ABOUT THEM IF THEY DO NOT PROVIDE PERIOD PRODUCTS IN THEIR BATHROOMS

51%

90%

OF GIRLS MENSTRUATE BY AGE 13; 10-15% OF GIRLS START BY AGE 8.

HAVE WORN A TAMPON OR PAD FOR LONGER THAN RECOMMENDED BECAUSE OF LACK OF ACCESS TO PERIOD PRODUCTS

61%

REPORT THAT THEY HAVE BEEN CAUGHT IN PUBLIC WITHOUT ACCESS TO PERIOD PRODUCTS

86%

PERIOD POVERTY IN OUR SCHOOLS LOOKS LIKE . . .

One student who told us that her parents are unable to provide period products, so when she is menstruating, she lies on towels on her couch.

One custodian mentioned that she often wipes blood off of classroom seats.

One student said that she used cotton balls because they were less expensive than period products and stopped going to school because they fell out.

UTAH’S SIMPLE SOLUTION

Through efforts led by The Period Project, House Bill 162 “Period Products in Schools” was passed unanimously by the Utah legislature in March 2022. This bill requires all public and charter schools in the state to provide period products in girls and unisex restrooms within all school facilities.

By working with legislative leadership, philanthropists, and student advocates, The Period Project organized a unique public-private partnership to benefit Utah students. The Larry H. & Gail Miller Family Foundation and the Andrus Family Foundation donated private funds for the initial purchase of period product dispensers to be installed in thousands of school bathrooms and the Utah Legislature and individual LEAs provided funding for the products to fill the dispensers. This innovative approach allowed for uniform implementation across the state of high-quality period products that ensure the dignity of our students.

Providing these products will raise educational outcomes across the state in EVERY female demographic, de-stigmatize and de-sexualize menstruation, encourage other entities in the state to destigmatize periods and to provide period products to increase productivity in educational settings as well as the workplace, and much more.