Why menstrual products should be provided by college campuses
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Mandatory student health fee doesn’t cover menstrual products.
Menstrual products are a huge part of the lives of many people around the world, many of whom are college students. As these products are necessary for the function of many, why are they not provided by college campuses? As the United States strongly encourages young people to pursue a higher education, and these menstrual products are necessary for many students to attain that goal, students have the right to these products at no cost of their own.
Colleges can provide many services to students and even charge a comprehensive fee that is included in the tuition. Did you know that in your undergraduate tuition for the State University of New York at Geneseo you pay a health fee of $225.50 per semester?
According to the Fee Definitions page on the Geneseo website, the health fee covers “Health care provided by physicians, nurse practitioners and registered nurses, health education, mental health consultation, basic medications (over-the-counter and prescription), dressings, and select medical laboratory services.”
This fee covers a number of helpful services, but menstrual products are a medical necessity that should also be covered under this fee.
In a survey conducted by SWNS Digital, it was found that a person who menstruates spends approximately $13.25 a month, $159 a year, on menstrual products.
The average length of time a person would live on campus is eight months. Going off of the survey by SWNS, their estimated total cost of menstrual products would be $106 for their time on campus. This may not seem like a big expense, but most people living on campus are full time students and don’t have the ability to work a job on top of the class load. Students should not have to worry about finding and paying for products that are necessary for their continued function. If the college were to alleviate this cost, students would have more time to focus on their studies.
The Geneseo campus already provides necessities to students such as food, housing, and health services, and menstrual products should be included in this. Another feature of note in analyzing health services is that condoms are currently listed under “necessities.” Condoms are provided to students free of charge, though condoms are not utilized out of necessity, and rather as a choice made in engaging in sex. Some may argue that menstrual products are not necessary, but they are wrong—you do not choose to menstruate. It is a natural occurrence.
We would compare the necessity of menstruation products to the need for food. You can’t control hunger—you naturally get hungry, which is why the school provides food. You can’t control menstruation, so the school should provide menstruation products as well.
Imagine going into a bathroom and having to put money in to access toilet paper—silly, right? That's exactly what PERIOD—an organization working to bring attention to period poverty and fight for policies to provide free menstrual products—did in a study to simulate to non-menstruating people what it's like to need a period product ASAP and not have access.
As a university that charges most of its students around of $23,000 per year, it’s beyond safe to say free menstrual products can be budgeted to rid this unnecessary stressor from its menstruating students. Just as it seems ridiculous to make students pay for their own toilet paper, it is ridiculous to expect menstruating students to pay for their own period products.
It is important to note that many college campuses do provide these products, and it is time for Geneseo to catch up and start supporting its menstruating students. SUNY Geneseo accredits itself to be a “premier” public liberal arts college, and a top-ranking university should certainly be one to join the movement to provide a very basic necessity to its students.