INDIANAPOLIS (WTHR) – People are hesitant to talk about it publicly.
Those involved in providing feminine products say the silence around period products fuels the inequity in access.
“One in four women in Indiana struggle to pay for feminine products,” Angie Katinas of Project Period said.
Project Period provides schools and various community organizations with menstrual hygiene products for students and clients.
The city of West Lafayette is attempting to tackle that inequity in the areas that fall under their jurisdiction. Weeks after Purdue University decided to provide free feminine hygiene products on campus, the city is now following suite.
They’ll be provided in “city building, city parks and public building,” said West Lafayette Mayor John Dennis.
“When you talk about feminine hygiene, feminine hygiene products, it seems to be that there’s a lot of reluctance when it comes to having a conversation publicly,” Dennis said.
The vast majority of lawmakers in America are men.
“They need to listen to their wives and daughters,” said Samantha Weinbricht, who is the Family and Community Coordinator at CFI 70 and works in the Indianapolis school’s nurse's office.
The mayor of Lafayette said the reality of hygiene equity in his city was brought to his attention by two women.
“We’ve got two very active and informed councilors who are relatively new. Shannon Kang, a Purdue student who’s 19, and Kathy Parker who’s been involved in local governments for quite some time,” Dennis said.
He said the two women brought this issue to the council.
“If you go into any public restroom, there’s soap and toilet paper, probably unintentionally, but applied towards men when it comes to personal hygiene. We talk about women, the issues that specifically affect women, some of those products do not exist. And if they do, the possibility exists that they might be cost prohibitive,” he added.
Nearly 46 percent of women nationally, couldn’t afford both food and period-related products in the past year, according to a study published in the 2019 February issue of Obstetrics & Gynecology.
The average box of tampons is about $6.
But many women have to buy more than one box of tampons to match the different flows throughout their period. And if it’s a parent who’s paying for their teen’s feminine products, the more girls in the household, the higher the cost.
Indiana is also among the 31 states that taxes feminine products. In some states, items such as pixie sticks, lip balm and condoms are deemed “necessary” and tax exempt.
“I don’t know how anybody would get by without them,” said Weinbricht.
“It’s a medical need it’s not a luxury,” said Katinas.
“I’m happy for the women of West Lafayette,” she added.
Katinas said she’s especially interested to see "how it works in the parks where maybe women who are experiencing homelessness are going to have access to products they didn’t otherwise have access too."
While the city’s resolution is similar to the one at Purdue, there's one key difference: The products will be provided in women’s restrooms, men’s restrooms and gender-neutral ones as well.
“There’s a probability that a woman might be transitioning and still has to have hygiene products, and it’s imperative that we have them available,” Dennis said.
“I think it’s wonderful,” Rachel Heger of I Support the Girls said. The organization provides free bras, pads and tampons to women and girls from all walks of life and all applicable ages.
“And I hope that it becomes a benchmark for other cities to follow as well,” she added.
Dennis said he only has jurisdiction over public areas in the city of West Lafayette and not over the school district itself.
The superintendent of the West Lafayette School Corporation was not available for an on camera or phone interview but provided a statement:
“WLCSC has in place age-appropriate procedures to assist our school-age children. We have registered nurses at all schools. We use age-appropriate procedures and provide free feminine hygiene products through the nurses office. We are working with children and their families appropriately.”
Indianapolis area schools, which stock their nurses office with supplies provided by I Support the Girls, say having products available makes a difference.
Some students “take four of five just to have because they don’t have them at home,” said Administrative Associate at CFI 70 Celese Gardner who also works with Weinbricht in the nurse’s office.
“They know they don’t have to use washcloths or toilet paper,” added Gardner.
“And they know if we didn’t have, we would get it for them,” said both Weinbricht and Gardner in unison.
"We have a good relationship with our school corporation, and we can obviously have those conversations," the mayor of West Lafayette said. "But first things first. We try to make sure we do the right thing for areas we do have administrative control over."
Heger said accessibility is key, especially for school-aged children.
“We want to make sure that all of our children can remain in class and not have this be a barrier. It’s a real issue of menstrual equity,” she added.
For students who don’t have access, Katinas said many try to problem solve alternative solutions which can be life threatening.
“Either they use a product much longer than they should, or they use like washcloths or something like that, that are not meant to be used when they’re on their periods. So they’re exposing themselves to health problems in terms of germs and bacteria,” said Katinas.
Many involved with providing feminine hygiene products to women and girls say having the products available in every classroom or restroom would make a difference.
Caroline King is involved in the National Organization for Women (N.O.W.) chapter at her school, Shortridge High School. The ninth grader helps to provide menstrual products for the students because “most schools don’t include this necessity in their yearly budget.”
King said her chapter puts feminine hygiene products in all the women’s bathrooms at the school.
“These baskets can hold about seven pads, 10 tampons, three maxi pads and about 10 small liners. These baskets can empty out anywhere between two and five days as soon as they’ve been put out,” added King.