Period Poverty Is a Policy Issue: Turning Awareness Into Action in Mississippi

This week, I was proud to participate in The PUPA Project’s Period Action Day event, joining advocates and community leaders to raise awareness about period poverty and the need for greater menstrual equity in Mississippi.

For me, this work is not new.

In 2023, I partnered with the Mississippi Girls and Boys Club for a Menstrual Health Matters event in West Jackson, bringing young girls together with health professionals for honest conversations about menstrual and reproductive health and providing menstrual products to take home. Mississippi Public Broadcasting highlighted that work and my belief that ending period poverty must start with our young people.

I have also co-authored legislation addressing access to menstrual products in Mississippi public schools. We have made progress, but there is more to do.

Period products are necessities—not luxuries. Yet access can still depend on a student's school district, available resources or a family's ability to pay.

As we prepare for the 2027 legislative session, Mississippi does not have to start from scratch. Our next steps should include making free menstrual products more readily available in public schools, providing funding to support access, protecting student privacy, improving menstrual-health education and revisiting the sales tax on menstrual products.

Community action matters, too. Schools, churches, sororities, nonprofits and businesses can host product drives, make products readily available and help eliminate the stigma surrounding menstruation.

This is about more than periods. It is about health, education, economic security and dignity because no student should miss class because she doesn't have a pad. No mother should have to choose between menstrual products and another household necessity.

Period Action Day reminds us that awareness matters, but awareness must lead to action, and action must lead to policy.