When Nadya Okamoto’s mom lost her job, the family was technically homeless, although they lived with a friend. Suddenly, her bus rides to Catlin Gabel, where she’s a scholarship student, took two hours and brought her into contact with homeless women.
Once while waiting for a late bus, Okamoto encountered a crying woman who whispered the word “period.” Okamoto took all the tampons and pads out of her backpack and gave them to the woman who didn’t know what a tampon was.
Women without resources find themselves using socks, toilet paper, cardboard or plastic for their periods. The resulting chaffing and rashes can lead to serious infections.
Yet Okamoto says sanitary napkins and tampons are rarely collected as donations or mentioned on lists of needs. “Governments fund condoms for men who have a choice. No woman has a choice about menstruation but it’s not receiving any funding.”
[For more of this story, written by Jan Johnson, go to https://www.thelundreport.org/...ks-social-boundaries]
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