Over the past year, I have been more tuned into women’s issues and rights. I see articles online about women in Nepal who have to sleep outside when they are on their periods. Posts on Facebook about women here in the U.S. who were censored for posting images of their periods or breasts.  

One of the only things that makes me a woman and is universal for almost all women is menstruation. I had never considered the challenges of having my period beyond my own experiences. If I run out of tampons, I can quickly run out to the store and buy some, or, more often than not, ask my Dad to get them for me.  At school, I can take Advil whenever I need it.

The truth is, such help would be a luxury for millions of women and girls around the world.  These women and girls don’t even have access to tampons or disposable pads, and none can expect a father or husband to go to the store to buy them considering the deeply rooted stigmatization of periods and the lack of respect that women across the world and even in our community endure.  

The issue of accessibility and affordability of feminine hygiene products is seldom discussed, but this challenge is making a frightening difference in the lives of many women, and especially young girls, today.       

For one example, take a look at Nigeria.  This country is just one place among many where both the stigma and knowledge surrounding periods remains more or less the same as it was hundreds of years ago.  One of the most shocking and disappointing facts is that the number one reason why girls in underdeveloped countries drop out of school is that they don’t have access to sanitary supplies, can’t afford them, and/or aren’t educated about their bodies.

According to UNESCO, 1 in 10 girls will drop out of school because of their periods.   In Nigeria, sixty-five percent of women and girls can’t afford disposable sanitary pads, which means that they must use a cloth that needs to be hand-washed and dried.  As a result, girls choose not to go to school because of period cramps and fear of their stigmatized blood being visible.  Often, after continually missing one week out of every month of school, the girls fall behind and subsequently drop out of school.

Given all the chaos in the world today, it is especially disheartening that simply because of a lack of sanitary supplies, a girl is forced to forfeit her education. This is a problem that could be fixed, and fixing it has the potential to provide dramatic economic benefits.  

Fortunately there are organizations–AfriPads, Lunapads, Dontaepads, and more–that are working to provide knowledge and supplies to women and girls who don’t have access.  In 2009, a study done by the Ministry of Education in Nigeria found that a greater distribution of sanitary pads coupled with sexual and reproductive health education would increase attendance in school by 3.5 days per month. This is a small yet important step.

Poverty also plays a big role in the life of a woman while she’s menstruating— both here in Chicago and around the world.  If a woman doesn’t have enough money to buy pads or tampons, she has to make them out of a reusable material.  In a place without easy access to clean water, it can be difficult to maintain hygienic sanitary pads, which could ultimately compromise a woman’s health.

Because sanitary products are not a part of “government approved” health care, women have to spend extra money to purchase them.  Over the course of one year, a woman will spend close to one hundred and fifty dollars on menstruation-related products alone.  When each penny counts, one hundred and fifty dollars is a tremendous burden.

Similar to international organizations, there are numerous groups working to help women on national and local levels.  But there is still need, so I started an organization called “Tampon Tuesdays” to help raise awareness and funds for women and girls who can’t afford feminine hygiene products.  On the first Tuesday of every month, Tampon Tuesdays holds a bake sale, movie screening, or event to help raise money.  At every event, students and staff alike have the option to pay with either tampons and pads or money.  

Education too is key, and Tampon Tuesdays works equally hard to help reduce the stigma around periods and tampons.  Believe it or not, many Parker boys have been very willing and enthusiastic about this cause.  It may be the cupcakes offered at meetings, but even holding a tampon begins to minimize the mystery.  So far, Tampon Tuesdays has raised two hundred dollars and collected close to three hundred tampons and pads.  

During the current school year, the tampons and pads will be donated to the Maria Shelter in Hyde Park, Chicago.  The cash will be donated to Afripads, an international organization that works to provide reusable pads to women and girls as well as to educate young women about their bodies and promote education for young women.  And the good news is that other schools are getting involved— there’s a Tampon Tuesday group starting at Lab and, hopefully soon, at Latin as well.

Feminine hygiene is a global problem. One that has been ignored or dismissed for centuries. Far too many women have been silenced, and it is time for a change in the way society views women and the most natural and beautiful functions of our bodies. Sometimes, it takes many small steps to solve a problem, and Tampon Tuesdays is a good start.