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Monday, March 18, 2024

PERIOD holds pad and tampon drive, first informational meeting

JORDAN CHOW / AGGIE

Organization campaigns for free menstrual hygiene products on campus

On Jan. 31, the UC Davis student organization PERIOD held an information night to celebrate its first official meeting. The event also served as a pad and tampon drive for My Sister’s House, an organization that supports victims of domestic violence, sexual assault and human trafficking.

PERIOD is a nonprofit organization with chapters around the world. It was founded in 2014 with the mission of supporting those in need of menstrual hygiene products. This support can take the form of pad and tampon donations, awareness events and political campaigns for making products more accessible to those in need of them.

The UC Davis chapter of PERIOD is focused on campaigning for free menstrual hygiene products for students. One of its campaigns involves stocking restrooms on campus with complimentary pads and tampons.

“The goal is to get free menstrual hygiene products in all campus bathrooms,” said public relations director Anusha Klinder, a second-year global disease biology major. “We’re going to start with the women’s restrooms, but we’re hoping to expand that to all-gendered restrooms.”

Additionally, PERIOD hopes to have a Cramp Car, which would provide students with free menstrual hygiene products in a similar way to the Love Lab, which gives away different forms of contraception at certain times in the ARC.

“A really big piece is funding,” said chapter director Annie Wang, a second-year materials science engineering major. “We’re really looking into opportunities to fund those machines.”

At the meeting, the club leaders shared a link to a survey that allowed students and other affiliates of UC Davis to submit their opinions on PERIOD’s campaign for free menstrual hygiene products.

According to Wang, administrators stand behind PERIOD’s efforts to support students in need of menstruation products.

“UC Davis is very interested in pushing the menstrual movement forward in as many ways as possible with as many organizations as possible,” Wang said.

In addition to campaigning, the UC Davis chapter of PERIOD works to raise awareness about menstruation and students’ need for menstrual hygiene products.

“Because menstrual health is such a sensitive issue, a lot of our work is centered around education,” said programming director Nicole Garcia, a fourth-year communications major.

At the informational meeting, the club leaders held a “Free Flowing Conversation” in order to encourage attendees to break the stigma associated with talking about periods. Attendees were split into different groups, then asked to respond to questions relevant to menstruation and how it is socially perceived.

“[Menstruation is] a topic that is very taboo, and that leads to dire consequences,” Wang said. “That’s why we started PERIOD at UC Davis.”

 

Written by: Jacqueline Moore — campus@theaggie.org

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