End Period Poverty for Students: Pass the Menstrual Equity for All Act

Tell the California legislature to end period poverty statewide. Pass The Menstrual Equity for All Act (AB367), which would require all schools and government agencies to stock at least half their bathrooms with free menstrual products. 

Students that do not have access to free menstrual products report: 

• being financially burdened by the cost of menstrual products
• feeling shame as they walk across campus in bloody clothing
• missing school due to a lack of access to menstrual products

California has the opportunity to end period poverty thanks to Assemblymember Cristina Garcia and Assembly Bill 367: The Menstrual Equity for All Act.

“Our biology doesn’t always send an advanced warning when we’re about to start menstruating, which often means we need to stop whatever we’re doing and deal with a period. Often periods arrive at inconvenient times. They can surprise us during an important midterm, while playing with our children at a park, sitting in a lobby waiting to interview for a job, shopping at the grocery store, or even standing on the Assembly Floor presenting an important piece of legislation. Having convenient and free access to these products means our period won’t prevent us from being productive members of society, and would alleviate the anxiety of trying to find a product when out in public,” said Assemblymember Garcia.

The passage of AB 376 would make access to menstrual products a human right by ensuring menstrual equity and free access to menstrual products for all Californians. The bill would require all schools maintaining grades 6-12, community colleges, college campuses, and state/local municipal buildings to stock their public restrooms with free menstrual products.

AB 367 was inspired by the trail-blazing actions of Scotland, where Parliament adopted The Period Products (Free Provision) on November 24, 2020. Scotland’s new law declared access to menstrual products as a human right and requires all designated public places to provide menstrual products free of charge to anyone who needs them. “Last year, Scotland showed the world this pioneering policy can be passed, with bipartisan support, and become law. I propose we build upon California’s prior menstrual equity laws by declaring that access to menstrual products is a human right and expand access. Just as toilet paper and paper towels are provided in virtually every public bathrooms, so should menstrual products. It is time we recognize and respond to the biology of half the population by prioritizing free access to menstrual products, and eliminating all barriers to them,” stated Assemblymember Garcia.

We need you to take action today! Take five minutes using IGNITE's online advocacy tools to send emails of support to your representatives.