Women have the fastest growing prison population, increasing twice as fast as the male population over the past 35 years. This means that facilities providing inadequate quality and quantity of feminine products is not acceptable. More often than not, women need more than the limited number of thin pads allotted to them within these facilities.

 

72% of incarcerated women are below the poverty line prior to entering prison. While working their jobs in prison, they are paid very minimally, however, they are often required to purchase higher quality products themselves. When a box of tampons costs a weeks worth of work, incarcerated women are faced with the question of where they spend their limited money. Often forced to go without proper products, period inequality leads to dire decisions to use unhygienic materials for absorption, such as socks and mattress stuffing, which can cause infections or even infertility.

 

At Adira, we believe that every woman should have ample access to the menstrual products that she needs regardless of whether or not she is incarcerated. By providing women with the necessary sanitary products, we can decrease health complications and increase these women’s ability to focus on their personal rehabilitation.

 

To support us in our mission to push both federal and state prisons to provide quality, basic menstrual products without charge or quantity limitation to all female inmates, please sign the petition below.