A bill requiring the state Department of Education to provide free menstrual products to public school students passed the state House and Senate on Thursday.
The bill will go into effect July 1 if signed into law by Gov. David Ige. The result of a three-year effort, Senate Bill 2821 addresses “period poverty,” defined in the bill as a lack of access to menstruation products resulting from income constraints, inadequate education, cultural or societal shame, and a lack of running water or sanitary locations.
“This is incredibly important and will allow students to have more equal access, regardless of economic status,” said state Sen. Laura Acasio of Hilo, who introduced the bill. “It allows one more barrier to be brought down in terms of equal access to education.”
The DOE estimates the total cost of the supplies would be $1 million annually; $2 million will be provided via an appropriation in the bill.
“Part of that is for initial set up,” said Acasio, who mentioned supplies could be kept in plexiglass boxes throughout campuses. “Distribution decisions will be left to the DOE and individual schools on what they see fit for their school culture.”
More than 180 testimonies in favor of the bill were provided by individuals and organizations throughout the state.
“It feels like the success of the year,” said Acasio. “Students and the community saw an issue and brought advocacy to the capital, where there were legislators like myself and others who really listened and thought it was a great idea. It’s an incredible example of not only shifting our larger picture around equity and poverty, but around civic engagement.”
Much of the bill relied on data from Ma‘i Movement Hawaii, a nonprofit that conducted a survey and pilot program that provided period products to students throughout the state.
“Our overall mission is to end period poverty in Hawaii,” said Nikki-Anne Yee, co-founder of Ma‘i Movement alongside her sisters Brandy-Lee Yee and Jamie-Lee Kapana. “We need to take a multipronged approach to solve it using services, education and advocacy. This is really the first menstrual equity policy that has been successful here.”
The nonprofit provided over 2,000 students from six different schools with 41,280 period products.
“We wanted to somehow capture the entire DOE system,” said Yee, who noted participants included K-12, urban, rural, public and charter schools from different counties. “When we did the initial surveys, we were able to establish that in Hawaii, eight out of 10 students faced difficulty getting period products, and there were clear links between inadequate access and education inequities like absences.”
Half of respondents to the survey reported missing school or work because of their menstruation. An additional 33% reported embarrassment as a main barrier to accessing supplies, a number that dropped to just 16% following the pilot program’s implementation.
“In just one semester, we got comments indicating a 17% improvement related to embarrassment,” said Yee. “If this is just in one semester, I can’t imagine a full year or five years from now.”
Faculty members initially reported 56% of students had difficulty accessing menstrual products, a number that dropped to just 1% following the pilot program.
“If a school in Hawaii did have products, a lot of the time it was in the health room or a teacher would provide them,” said Yee. “Part of the implementation was pushing supplies outside of the health room and putting them in public spaces.” This included classrooms, counselors offices, bathroom stalls, and even some schools offering take-home kits.
“It was important we ensure the bill covers the safety and health of everyone too, not just secondary students,” said Yee who noted the bill will apply to elementary schools. “Nearly 30% of respondents to our statewide survey reported getting their period in elementary school.”
The Ma‘i Movement plans to continue meeting with the DOE to discuss distribution and implementation.
“Now that the bill has passed and there’s funding for it, I want to work with the DOE to provide all our findings and come up with implementation guidelines,” said Yee. “We’re putting together models that will allow schools to look at their administration and facilities and choose what works best for them.”
The Ma‘i Movement, through private donations, recently started a second phase of their pilot program, providing an additional 20 schools with period products.
“We’re tackling the issue of period poverty and the direct correlation between products and financial constraints, but it goes beyond that,” said Yee. “We’re recognizing this is a basic need like toilet paper or band-aids that shouldn’t just be in public schools, but in every school. We want to see Hawaii be the first state to make period products available everywhere.”
Email Grant Phillips at gphillips@hawaiitribune-herald.com.