Unanimous Vote Brings Free Tampons To NYC’s Schools, Prisons, Shelters

New York City council voted unanimously on Tuesday for a series of measures to provide menstrual hygiene products free of charge in public schools, prisons and homeless shelters.

Spearheaded by city council member Julissa Ferreras-Copeland, the law will give the 300,000 female students in grades six through 12 at the city’s 800 public schools access to free pads and tampons in school bathrooms.

The issue of sales tax or VAT on feminine hygiene products is separate, and not under New York City’s control.

Free tampons will start appearing in the city’s shelters, foster care facilities, juvenile detention facilities, city jails, and public middle and high schools in mid-October, just after the beginning of the school year.

The historic legislation would make New York City the first city in the nation to proactively guarantee access to menstrual hygiene products, according to the councilwoman.

Advocates say the measure also would make pads and tampons more readily available in schools.

Ferreras-Copeland said in a statement: “Providing menstrual hygiene products privately, immediately and for free is also about sending a body-positive message by not perpetuating shame and humiliation, and acknowledging that women’s bodies, even those of women serving time in prison, deserve some dignity during their periods”.

“They’re as necessary as toilet paper”, so they ought to be just as freely accessible, Ferreras-Copeland, a Democrat, said before Tuesday’s 49-0 vote. The lack of affordable menstrual hygiene products is a driver of girls’ school absenteeism worldwide.

“This package is remarkable”, Ferreras-Copeland told the crowd.

“My school has no products in the bathroom”. NY state lawmakers voted last month to become the sixth state to eliminate sales tax on the items. “In a school of 6,000 kids, there’s only one nurse”, she said.

We have very good news for girls and women across New York City. It will then drop to about $1.9 million after year one. The bill is estimated to benefit about several hundred thousand girls in schools and about 23,000 women and girls in city shelters. Earlier this year, she led a pilot project bringing free tampons and pads to 25 public schools in Queens and the Bronx. Getting permission to visit the nurse to pick up products, then going to the restroom, takes away classroom time from students-tipping the scales subtly away from gender equity in academic settings.