The Council of the City of New York released a press release on Monday, June 21st, 2016, which read in part:
Feminine hygiene products are essential for the health and well-being of women and girls. Inadequate menstrual hygiene management is associated with both health and psycho-social issues, particularly among low-income women. Access to feminine hygiene products has proven to be limited for certain populations, including public school students, the homeless, and incarcerated women.
Council Finance Chair Julissa Ferreras-Copeland said:
I am so proud that the Council will pass three pieces of sensible yet groundbreaking legislation which will guarantee access to menstrual hygiene products to tens of thousands of New Yorkers. For students who will no longer miss class because they do not have a pad or tampon to mothers at shelters and women in prison who will have access to these critical yet often overlooked products, this package makes our City a more fair place.
And according to PIX 11, Ferreras-Copeland also said:
Menstrual hygiene products are as necessary as toilet paper and should be treated as basic bathroom supplies . . . Providing menstrual hygiene products privately, immediately and for free is also about sending a body-positive message by not perpetuating shame and humiliation, and acknowledging that women’s bodies, even those of women serving time in prison, deserve some dignity during their periods.
It’s about damn time there was some movement on the menstrual justice front. How many more periods do you think we’ll have before another city or state passes similar legislation?
Woohoo!! This is such an accomplishment for NYC. Let’s hope everywhere else follows the lead!!