The period poverty project
Young women experiencing period poverty during high school do not have access to period products because of the price, lack of accessibility, and stigma, and this affects their daily lives.
Design Questions
How can we create an easy and accessible way for women to get period products if they can’t afford them?
How can we find a more sustainable solution for providing period products to women in underserved communities?
How are women living in poverty getting their period products right now?
How can we make period products cheaper?
How can we find a more sustainable solution for providing period products to women in underserved communities?
How are women living in poverty getting their period products right now?
How can we make period products cheaper?
Our Solutions
Pt. 1 : Menstruation Station
We wanted to find a solution that would directly help young students in the Kansas City area. This is why we decided to create menstruation stations. These stations will be put into every women’s bathroom at Center High School. Each station includes 3 drawers with free products in each drawer. Each drawer will contain different sizes that work best for you and your comfort. Hannah O’Donnell, the social worker at Center High School is working to find a student organization at Center that will help with the upkeep of each station for years to come.
Pt. 2 : Educating Our Community
We also wanted to help educate our own community at Sion. Therefore, we created posters that help the students learn about the stigma of period poverty, the tax of “luxury items” aka tampons, and the accessibility of these products. These posters were put up at Sion with QR codes to certain links students could use to access more information about local organizations like I Support the Girls and No Shame KC. We hope that Sion students will take advantage of these posters and educate themselves on period poverty.
We also wrote a letter to Missouri’s government about why the Tampon Tax should be reduced. We talked to Representative Barbara Phifer about this policy and she told us about HB 2241 which is a bill she sponsors. This bill is in favor of reducing the tampon tax in Missouri. This is the bill we chose to mention is our letter. We then sent this letter to Missouri’s Legislation in hopes that it would bring attention to this stigmatized issue.
We wanted to find a solution that would directly help young students in the Kansas City area. This is why we decided to create menstruation stations. These stations will be put into every women’s bathroom at Center High School. Each station includes 3 drawers with free products in each drawer. Each drawer will contain different sizes that work best for you and your comfort. Hannah O’Donnell, the social worker at Center High School is working to find a student organization at Center that will help with the upkeep of each station for years to come.
Pt. 2 : Educating Our Community
We also wanted to help educate our own community at Sion. Therefore, we created posters that help the students learn about the stigma of period poverty, the tax of “luxury items” aka tampons, and the accessibility of these products. These posters were put up at Sion with QR codes to certain links students could use to access more information about local organizations like I Support the Girls and No Shame KC. We hope that Sion students will take advantage of these posters and educate themselves on period poverty.
We also wrote a letter to Missouri’s government about why the Tampon Tax should be reduced. We talked to Representative Barbara Phifer about this policy and she told us about HB 2241 which is a bill she sponsors. This bill is in favor of reducing the tampon tax in Missouri. This is the bill we chose to mention is our letter. We then sent this letter to Missouri’s Legislation in hopes that it would bring attention to this stigmatized issue.
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meet THE TEAM
Katy GromowskyI am passionate about advocating for women's rights, especially their right to have affordable options and steady access to period products. I am excited to network with professionals and leaders in my community to help make my passion a reality.
My name is Katy Gromowsky and I am a senior at Notre Dame de Sion. I am currently in my school's Designing Real World Impacts class where we are learning to enhance our professional skills and learn to connect with potential community partners. I enrolled in this class because I wanted to expand my learning experience and better my communication abilities. My enhanced abilities of professional skills include how to send a professional email, how to speak in front of an audience, how to pitch a presentation, and how to be a collaborative team player. In this class, my partner and I are advocating for young women in high school who are experiencing period poverty. We have realized that these young women do not have the resources to be comfortable at school while on their periods. The topic of periods is so stigmatized that schools don't have period products in their bathrooms for girls. The lack of accessibility isn't the only thing surrounding period poverty. The cost of these needed products is keeping people from getting the necessities they need to go on enjoying their time at school. Going forward using my newfound knowledge and professional skills, I will be able to make sure that all women will have access to the period products they deserve. |
Samantha phillipsHi! My name is Samantha Phillips and I am a senior at Notre Dame de Sion. I am actively working to connect with difference makers in my community and enhance my professional skills every day as a participant in the Designing Real World Impacts program. I chose to go out of my comfort zone and join the 2022 Spring Cohort of DRWI, because I knew how beneficial it would be for my future. We do things that we normally would not do in school, such as learning how to clearly present our ideas, communicate with professionals, and create long-lasting solutions for problems in our community. As a senior at Notre Dame de Sion High School, I push myself to learn something new and valuable every day.
I am an advocate for women's rights, specifically trying to help with Period Poverty in my community. All women deserve to have access to period products. Period Poverty is a very real and very common issue in our community. Women who suffer from Period Poverty lose their sense of determination, respect, and dignity. These are the issues I want to help them fight for. I look forward to using my knowledge and skills to make sure women don't go without period products. |
