Female hygiene products are becoming more avail- able to incarcerated women, thanks to what is called “the menstrual equality movement,” according to corrections.com.
The new policy for federal prisons was adopted in 2017. It requires all federal prisons to provide free Tampons and other hygiene products to female prisoners. A bill in Congress to apply the change to all states failed, the story reported.
“It’s all part of what is called the menstrual equity movement,” said Chris Tricozzi, vice president of sales for Impact Products. “It has been growing significantly in just this past couple of years.”
The number of women in federal prison since the late 1970s grew similarly to the rate of male prisoners but has skyrocketed 834 percent na- tionwide in state and local correction facilities, according to the Prison Policy Initiative,
The new policy was implemented because so many of these women lack the funds to purchase feminine hygiene products, reported corrections.com.
In April 2016, Newsweek magazine ran a cover article as the official “coming-out party for Tampons.” The article discussed why women’s advocates, politicians and others want to put an “end to the period of shaming,” as Newsweek called it, when it comes to feminine hygiene products.
