Description
This is the menstruation education they didn’t teach you in school! Please join Mass NOW and the Cambridge Women’s Commission for a discussion on combating the stigma around menstruation, personal connections to the topic, and how “the personal is political” applies to this policy issue. We will also learn about Mass NOW’s new "I AM Bill" in the Massachusetts Legislature and how you can help.
Did you know?
On average, menstruating individuals will use over 11,000 disposal pads and tampons in their lifetime. This can cost over $10 per month, and contributes to the “pink tax” – the idea that women (and in this case all menstruating people) pay more annually for their needs.
Inability to access menstrual products can affect school attendance and productivity, adding to the issue of educational inequality.
Lack of access to menstrual products is acutely difficult for homeless individuals, already struggling to meet other basic needs. HUD’s December 2018 report put the number of homeless individuals in MA at over 20,000, up 14%, the largest increase in homelessness from 2017-2018 in the country.
Menstrual products provided in state prisons are often of poor quality or provide minimal protection. In turn, women are forced to improvise unsafe solutions or to ask guards for more, a subject often uncomfortable or difficult to broach given that 40% of guards in female state prisons are male.
Prisoners have the option to purchase hygiene products from a commissary which are often unaffordable on their less-than-a-dollar hourly salary. Learn more about menstrual equity and and MassNOW's I AM Bill, which would make menstrual products free and accessible in public schools, prisons and homeless shelters
www.massnow.org/iam
Free and Open to the Public. Handicap Accessible.
Dessert will be provided!