OPINION: Menstrual Products Should Be Available in Bathrooms

Photo: Lauren Hakim

HUNTER COLLEGE–I was in the bathroom on the fifth floor of the West building when I realized I got my period. I reached hopefully into my backpack only to find that I’d given my last pad away to a friend who’d needed one. Until I found a menstrual product, my life — my homework, my classes, everything I needed to do — was on pause.

I knew about the Purple Peeriod Project — the USG-sponsored project, paid for through the Student Activity Fee, to make pads and tampons available at various offices, mostly in Thomas Hunter — but didn’t have the list memorized and couldn’t think of any Purple Peeriod Project locations in the West building. I went to the Student Center on the fourth floor, hoping that it might be one of the locations and asked, “Is this one of the Purple Peeriod Project locations?” It wasn’t.

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