Massachussets Menstrual Equity Coalition

Today, I will be writing about the work of the Massachusetts Menstrual Equity Coalition. The organization is currently burgeoning, founded recently in 2019. The organization consists wholly of 400+ menstrual activists, advocacy organizations, non-profits, businesses, and public servants, per the organization’s website. 

Nascent Political Agenda: 

The passage of the I AM Bill by both the Senate and the House of Represenatives is a major priority of the organization, an act to increase access to disposable menstrual products in prisons, homeless shelters, and public schools (S. 241 and H.534). 

In Massachusetts (among numerous other states), economic inequality, educational inequality, and health inequality remain major systemic barriers.

Statistics: 

• Approximately 1/7 children in Massachusetts lacks access to affordable menstrual products.

• Over half of Massachusetts school nurses reported seeing students miss class to get menstrual products. 

• In 2020, during the peak of the COVID-19 pandemic, 20,000+ individuals were reported as homeless. 

• The federal government does not allow food stamps to be used to procure menstrual products. 

• Menstrual products are among the least donated supplies to homeless shelters. 

The MME released a helpful “Advocacy toolkit” to catalyze the passing of the I AM Bill: https://drive.google.com/drive/folders/1JO0QHYGxpj9FsA_nsQQ7xllfSY3R1QoB
Source: mmecoalition.com