Medical News Today reports over 500 million girls who menstruate lack access to the products and hygiene facilities they need, since feminine products are not considered essential in the United States. Therefore, they aren’t covered the same as food stamps and other necessities. Menstrual products can be very expensive and in the long run the cost starts to add up.

The average woman spends 13.25 a month on menstrual products, per SWNS Digital. This doesn’t seem like a lot but that’s $6,360 in an average woman’s reproductive lifetime (which is usually ages 12-52). Many people in poverty do not have this kind of money.
Without access to menstrual hygiene products women may use makeshift sanitation products. The American Medical Association states that this dangerous practice can lead to physical health impacts such as vaginal and urinary tract infections, severe reproductive health conditions, the development of endometriosis, problems with infertility and problems with menopause, and toxic shock syndrome, which if not treated can in some cases lead to death.

This problem that our country and many other countries face is called period poverty which the American Medical Association (AMA) describes as, “inadequate access to menstrual hygiene tools and education.” AMA also says period poverty is “not new, but it has been exacerbated by the COVID-19 pandemic. It has left people who were already struggling to afford menstrual products with even less access to the essentials they need.”

This is where Elizabeth Rhodes comes in. She is a Weir High School junior and has taken it upon herself to help combat this period poverty in any way she can.

Her project, called the WV Period Project, asks for monetary donations through the fundraising website GoFundMe. When she reaches her goal of $1,500, Rhodes will purchase dispensers for the bathrooms at Weir Middle School. The remaining money will be spent on sanitation items such as tampons and pads.

According to several middle school students and staff the school is currently without a nurse. This is important because it has impacted the way that girls get the products they need. “I was embarrassed and uncomfortable to ask for something at the time,” junior Rylee Donalson said.

According to a survey of Weir high school girls, several students recounted stories of facing the exact same things these Middle Schoolers are facing. This embarrassing situation is shared by almost every girl at the high school.

“It was terrible,” senior Elise Vuiller said, “I don’t feel like periods are properly acknowledged in middle school or high school. It seems rather taboo, as a young child your cycle is irregular and seeing as we spend the majority of our time in school it’s impossible to not get your period unexpectedly and having a dispensary in bathrooms probably would have saved me the trouble from wrapping my underwear and crying in the bathroom.”

Rhodes started this project to protect young girls at the middle school and help fight against period poverty in our community. This is why Rhodes decided to start with Weir Middle School for her project. Not only are they local but many of them are starting for the first time, and this makes tense and stressful situation worse.

She said that if her project is successful, she would “definitely love to expand the project to other schools next year.” This is Rhodes’ first major project besides community service, and she hopes to continue this project until she graduates.

In the same survey, 35 out of the 35 girls who responded were in favor of the project and Lizzy said that the Weir Middle School administration fully supports the project.

“I think this project is a good start to recognizing the need of young female adults in the middle school. It is long overdue, and I am disappointed in the staff of the middle school to not have already done this for its students,” junior Haley Mazon responded with when asked about her thoughts on the project.

Another junior, Emily Burksey said, “I think it’s a great idea, so girls feel comfortable with who they are and what is happening with their bodies.”

Some of the other girls surveyed were able to go into great detail about how much they loved the project, the wonderful benefits of the project, and how they fully supported it.

94% of the people surveyed said that they would’ve not only benefitted from this project when they were in middle school but how much they wished they had this project in middle school.

This shows that period poverty can be experienced by almost anyone. If anyone wants to donate to this cause you can click the link below

https://www.gofundme.com/f/wv-period-project?qid=4b517eac14bbcfd3a8b3632586712e1f