By: Vanessa Ramirez, Jamiya Coleman, Shakeera Hayward, Taylor Reedy, and Abby Chosewood.
The Period Equity Movement is a pioneering, multi-campus initiative led by faculty, students, and staff to promote period equity at Georgia Southern. With 1 in 10 college students experiencing period poverty, according to Forbes.com, the PEM has made it their goal to ensure that students who menstruate have the products they need to live their lives to the fullest.
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| A flyer and mensural products for the Period Equity Movement in the Russell Union bathroom. |
Last year, the Student Health Awareness Initiative presented a speech promoting menstrual products that are environmentally friendly and safer on the body. Georgia Southern student, Gabi Wiggill, became inspired to speak about issues.
“It never even crossed my mind that there were people actively suffering from this,” Wiggill said. “It all started with me coming into college, I took English 1101, and had to write a paper about some issue in college.”
After doing research she learned how bad menstrual products could be for the environment and it all went from there. Most of these problems were concerning the lack of knowledge students have pertaining to a cheaper and more efficient way to care for their menstrual cycles.
Wiggill noticed how much women get taxed yearly when buying these products from regular stores. She knew she needed to educate others on the issue.
“Something needs to be done about this. We can’t just leave this because people get in real danger when they don’t know this information,” Wiggill said in regards to women discussing menstruation issues. “They get in real danger when they aren’t comfortable enough.”
Along with giving the audience coupon codes for environmentally friendly items, Wiggill gave the students alternatives to pads and tampons, like diva cups and menstrual panties.
By the end of the event, Wiggill let the crowd know her hopes of inspiring students so that this issue can receive more attention.
“If I’m not going to do this then who is?” Wiggill asked.
Fast forward to now, the PEM is in full effect. Gabi Wiggill, now a member of the Student Government Association, has created a movement funded by the Office of Student Wellness and Health Promotion.
There are currently three projects under the PEM: The Green Period Pantry, The Disposable Period Pantry, and Period Products On-The-Go in restrooms.
“I find it very helpful because I know as college students a lot of us don't really have enough funds to get period products,” Georgia Southern student, Anna Weaver said. She is very fond of the movement and appreciates the initiative that Wiggill has made.
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Two Georgia Southern female students eating chick-fil-a on campus. |
Students are able to get two, free reusable pads or a diva cup from the green period pantry. There are also free tampons and pads available in restrooms and other locations across Georgia Southern's campus.
The Carrol building's period pantry with
pads and mensural cups.
The SGA is simply responsible for making the movement happen, alongside Wiggill, while also being a housing location for the products.
“We didn't help fund the period pantry,” Amare Mcjolly, the Director of Alumni Relations for SGA said. “We’re just one of the places on campus housing the products in our office for students. The library is another area on campus where students can check on products.”
In the early stages of the movement, Wiggle had trouble finding funding for everything. After doing research she found that Georgia Southern students pay a total of $10 out of their tuition each semester towards sustainability products.
Wiggill then applied for a grant through the sustainability fee program and was awarded $48,000 to provide students with thousands of eco-friendly menstrual products. Along with professors that wanted to help, Wiggill also applied through the Office of Inclusive Excellence where she was then awarded over $20,000.
With this money, she was able to provide these products on all three campuses at Georgia Southern University.
In the future, she plans to hold a PEM event in February where they will be educating students on these issues. They are excited to be able to listen to students' issues and come up with ways to improve them.
“We don't have anything like this on our campus,” Savannah Pritchett, a student at Albany State University said. “I would love to have a period pantry because I don't work and it’s ridiculous that women are still being taxed for products we need.”
Georgia: STOMP is an organization built upon eliminating some of the same issues as Wiggill. There is a 4% state sales tax Georgians are charged on the medically necessary, unavoidable items they need to manage their periods with dignity.
They are working diligently to remove a tax that is borne primarily by women, who are already economically disadvantaged in our state.
To find out more information on how to join their movement, you can contact them at georgiaSTOMP@gmail.com or visit their website at https://georgiastomp.com.
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