By Ava Diaz
Natalie Chilindron, a sophomore communications student at Adelphi, recalled an incident that is all too common for her and her peers.
“I got my period and I was completely unprepared,” said Chilindron, who is among the 67% of women currently enrolled at the university. “I ran to the nearest bathroom on campus in hopes to try to get some sort of pad or tampon. When I went, there was absolutely nothing. Even after going to the bathrooms on each floor, I found nothing.”
The Health Services Center at Waldo Hall provides female students on campus with free feminine hygiene products. But they’re out of reach precisely when female students need them—usually in the restrooms—after inconveniently discovering that they are having their period. If caught unprepared, their only hope is that someone else is in the bathroom ready to help.
There are very few restrooms on campus that have female hygiene dispensers and the ones that do only offer tampons priced at 25 cents each. Adelphi is a cashless campus and students seldom have quarters with them. What’s more, in a recent campus survey 56% of women revealed that tampons are the least favorable of menstrual products.
On one occasion, this left junior communications major Jenna Giakoumis with no option. “I just had to tough out the fact that I had no pads, forcing me to resort to one made out of toilet paper. This is all while still being held accountable to be present in both my academic and my social life,” she said.
Fighting this battle against Mother Nature without free and conveniently available menstrual products often creates discomfort and stress for women on campus. In a spring survey of 48 Adelphi students who menstruate, 64.6% said that they do not feel supported by the University when it comes to having access to menstrual hygiene products. In addition, 64.6% respondents also believe the products should be available for free as part of their tuition.
A Limited New York Law
Student responses to the survey highlight the fact that access to menstrual hygiene products is an economic issue as well as a health issue.
According to PERIOD, a menstrual health advocacy organization, 1 in 4 students nationwide cannot afford period products. To date, 28 states and Washington DC have passed legislation in order to help students have access to free period products while in school. Governor Kathy Hochul made New York State one of them in August when she signed into law a bill requiring all public colleges and universities to offer menstrual products free of charge in restrooms.
As a private university, Adelphi doesn’t have to abide by this law. Nevertheless, Nicole Gaudino, executive director of University Health and Wellness, said she advocates for this issue annually. Her office seeks additional funding to make a difference.
“We want to set a precedent of being proactive instead of reactive,” Gaudino said. “I am happy to share that prior to the legislation, and presently, Health Services provides free menstrual products to anyone who requests them in an effort to remove a barrier and bridge gaps in health equity. Additionally, the Panther Pantry provides access to free menstrual products to anyone in need as well. Students can request up to five tampons and five pads per pantry request.”
Availability on Campus
At the University Center bookstore, students can buy a box of 20 organic tampons for $8.99. However, they’re intended for a light flow, making them insufficient for absorbing the 40 milliliters of blood that the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said that women lose throughout each cycle. There’s also a box of eight super tampons for $3.99. In comparison, a box of 18 super tampons or a separate box of 18 pads at a local grocery store are $5.99 each, making the purchase off campus more affordable if students can get there.
To address the issue of access, the University can install more period product dispensers in restrooms across campus and include pads as well as tampons to accommodate those who want another option. According to the website for AirDelights, a commercial restroom product company, one dispenser can cost up to $800.
In the student survey, some women mentioned that a factor in their product choice is comfort; many consider pads to be less irritating and easier to use.
“I can’t use tampons…and that’s all that campus has,” said Siarra Higueros, a sophomore nursing student. “I had no choice but to use a cheaply made, cardboard applicator tampon that was extremely uncomfortable. Even when the administration does provide products in campus bathrooms, they make no effort to put our best interests at heart.”
Gaudino said her office is aware that accessibility is an issue. “The dispensers are quite old. We had a grant which had funded those but we no longer are in receipt. I am familiar with the newer units, which are usually paid for via grants and fundraising or the Vengo vending machines for which students pay directly via phone or card.”
She added that several organizations have been contacted, such as Love Your Menses, in hopes of gaining donations for new grant applications.
“We are currently in pursuit of a grant,” Gaudino said. “The end goal is to receive a dispenser and products to spread across campus.”
A Worldwide Problem
Accessibility to affordable menstrual hygiene products is not just an issue on campus. It’s a worldwide problem. In fact, even in the United States, they’re considered a “luxury item.” Therefore a tax formally known as the “tampon tax” is placed on feminine hygiene products. In 2016, New York became one of few states that have ended the tax on these products. Upon its ban, the bill’s sponsor, New York State representative Linda Rosenthal, stated, “Women statewide will no longer be burdened by a lingering tax that was levied at a time when women were not part of government and the decision-making process.”
But this issue is not limited to women in the US. Period poverty is the lack of access to menstrual hygiene products and the education needed in order to use them effectively. It is a global health issue. For example, in Uganda, East Africa, young women are forced to use objects like rags, banana peels, leaves and old newspapers. Not only is this ineffective, it is also not sanitary and can lead to further health problems.
Binda Godlove Aka, assistant professor of political science and international relations at Adelphi, has been doing extensive research on the matter and its role in public policy.
“Some administrators may not understand the impact of it because they haven’t been exposed to it,” said Godlove Aka. “But, we have to reach out to them to let them know and to get ourselves fully committed to being part of it.”
Godlove Aka, whose research will be published in the “Journal of Global Health Economics and Policy,” said he is open to working with the Adelphi administration in order to create a formal policy that advocates for menstrual equity. “Period products are a basic necessity,” he said. “It is the right of the state to provide these things to U.S. citizens. To empower a woman is to empower a nation.”