Menstrual Hygiene Day Resolution

Floor Speech

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Ms. MENG. Madam Speaker, I rise to commemorate today as Menstrual Hygiene Day. Since 2013, Menstrual Hygiene Day has been annually celebrated on May 28th to raise awareness and catalyze political action around the challenges menstruating women and girls face around the world.

To support the goals and ideals of Menstrual Hygiene Day, last week, I introduced H. Res. 406. This legislation highlights that: 500 million women and girls around the world lack adequate facilities for menstrual health and hygiene management; 1 in 3 girls around the world don't have access to adequate toilets; and many others face social and cultural restrictions during their periods. Additionally, displaced women and adolescent girls--whether by conflict, climate, or natural disaster-- face significant barriers to managing monthly menstruation in a safe, private, and dignified manner.

Here in the U.S., 25 million women live at or below the poverty line, often without consistent access to menstrual hygiene products. A recent survey of low-income women in a large U.S. city found that nearly two- thirds of these women couldn't afford menstrual hygiene products during the previous year. It is estimated that a woman may spend over $1,700 in her lifetime on tampons, a figure that is multiplied for women who also support children who are menstruating. Additionally, incarcerated women have illustrated that their dignity has been compromised when they seek to access menstrual hygiene products. I have also heard heartbreaking stories from girls whose schools fail to provide a supportive environment for menstruating students, often resulting in negative consequences.

Madam Speaker, no one should have to choose between their period or their dignity. No girl should be forced to miss school because of her period.

We must break the silence, raise awareness, and change negative social norms surrounding menstrual hygiene here in the U.S. and around the world. While Menstrual Hygiene Day is commemorated today, we must fight to ensure menstrual equity for all--each and every day.

That is why this resolution recognizes the barriers vulnerable populations face in accessing menstrual hygiene products, while encouraging greater research, as well as integration of menstrual hygiene services in global humanitarian and development activities abroad.

I urge my colleagues to support this legislation and join me in commemorating Menstrual Hygiene Day. I also urge support of H.R. 1882-- the Menstrual Equity For All Act, a bill which would comprehensively address the challenges menstruating women and girls face.

Madam Speaker, access to safe, affordable menstrual hygiene products is not just a basic health care right; it is a human right. Period.

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