PHILADELPHIA (KYW Newsradio) — The New Jersey Assembly this week passed a package of bills that addresses period poverty and menstrual health.
The bill package calls in part for a menstrual products hygiene program, a state feminine hygiene program for the homeless, and requires federal waivers to cover menstrual products under NJ FamilyCare, SNAP and WIC.
Lynette Medley, founder of No More Secrets Mind Body Spirit — the nation’s first menstrual hub and uterine wellness center, based in Philadelphia's Germantown neighborhood — says this kind of legislation is needed across the country.
“I think that all the states should implement a package that actually is dealing with period poverty and menstrual insecurities in our communities,” said Medley. “I'm very happy that New Jersey has a package of bills that they're passing.”
Period poverty is the inability to access menstrual products and waste management services.
No More Secrets is home to the nation’s first menstrual hub, called The SPOT Period. They provide products, education and counseling to those in need.
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Medley says for those with limited access, it comes down to survival. She says period poverty affects the most vulnerable and marginalized communities.
“The ones who basically have the highest health disparities, the ones who are pushed to the margins due to socially-constructed systems of oppression,” said Medley.
According to the Alliance for Period Supplies, one out of every six women and girls in Pennsylvania between 12 and 44 years old live below the federal poverty line, and a national survey by Thinx and PERIOD in 2021 said one in four teen girls struggle to afford period products, leading many to miss school because of it.
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Medley also says such poverty leads some girls to resort to offering sexual favors for the products.
“They are also stealing. They're using different things like stuffing from stuffed animals, socks, rags, whatever,” said Medley. “I have young people who are using tampons and pads that they actually get out of bathrooms and trash cans.”
Medley believes that feminine hygiene products should be easily accessible to all who menstruate, regardless of their ability to pay.