Community-Based Nonprofit Approach to Period Poverty Among Women and Girls in Shelby County, Tennesse

Period (menstruation) poverty affects women and girls in United States. In some U.S. cities, feminine hygiene items are becoming inaccessible and unaffordable to women and girls due to unequal taxation of feminine hygiene products. This case study involved exploring experiences of a Shelby County, Tennessee nonprofit’s female volunteers and recipients who receive free feminine hygiene products. Using a convenience sample of seven female participants, the feminine mystique theory was used to guide thematic interpretations via semistructured interviews involving gender-based pricing or pink taxes and effects of feminine hygiene affordability for women and girls. Resulting major themes included: free feminine hygiene products, learning about feminine hygiene from mothers, and missing classes. These findings substantiated that period poverty remains an issue posing challenges for some teenage girls in Shelby County schools. Participants suggested feminine hygiene products should be free and readily available to women and teenage girls at work and school, and continued awareness and support coupled with removal of financial barriers is necessary. This study will result in positive social change via a grant writing template for feminine hygiene to aid nonprofit organizations in presenting unified supportive voices to address period poverty, offering information to local and state policymakers to address these basic human rights issues.