Affordable menstrual products and accommodations make dealing with periods a smoother ride. Here at Carleton, both are difficult to find.
“I get severe migraines before and during my period,” said Vanessa Tyndall, a second-year criminology student. “All I can do is lay in bed in the dark sometimes, and it prevents me from doing anything productive.”
Migraines cause Tyndall to miss school, afffecting her attendance and participation grades. “I usually just end up having to stay home from school and sleep it off, because it’s too painful to stay awake,” she added.
While students can receive academic accommodations from the Paul Menton Centre (PMC) for chronic health issues and disabilities, the manager of student services at the PMC Bruce Hamm said the organization does not provide support for students experiencing period-related health issues.
“We are aware that other circumstances exist which may prompt students to seek assistance,” Hamm said in an email.
Hamm added students could speak to professors directly or to Equity and Inclusive Communities.
Even though some students face difficulty with periods, the experience is not universal.
“It hasn’t really affected my schooling,” said Maiya Tisdall, a first-year criminology student. “Sometimes I do get bad cramps, but I try to just push through and take some Advil.”
Whether or not students require academic accommodations, every menstruating student requires personal hygiene products.
Although they’re a necessity, menstrual products can be a financial burden for some students, said Tinu Akinwande, co-ordinator of the Womxn’s Centre.
“Sometimes you need to choose between food or your hygiene products, and sometimes you need to resort to organic products or make-shift pads or tampons that may not be safe.” — Tinu Akinwande,Womxn’s Centre co-ordinator
At Abstentions, the convenience store located in Residence Commons, a pack of 10 pads will cost a student $3.50 and a pack of 10 tampons will cost $5.99.
Akinwande said the Womxn’s Centre refills its free products outside its office frequently, showing they are a need for a lot of students.
“You can put a basket out and in an hour it will be done, and that can be 60 to 100 dollars worth of hygiene products,” she said.
Olivia Karp, a student at Ryerson University, founded Menstruation Matters last term after finding out Ryerson did not offer free products.
Efforts by some Ontario school boards to provide free menstrual supplies and Scotland’s recently passed Free Provision Bill have sparked the conversation in Ontario, according to Karp.
Her organization campaigns for free, accessible, good-quality menstrual products for post-secondary students across Ontario.
Some service centres offer free menstrual products on campus, but Karp said stigma creates an accessibility barrier.
“I can’t just walk in and say, ‘Hey, I need menstrual products,” she said. “I may not want to share I have my period, so it kind of feels like there’s no sense of openness to these centres.”
Transgender and non-binary students can feel particularly at risk of stigma when seeking menstrual supplies, Karp said, which increases the need for privacy.
Karp said Menstruation Matters currently has 109 volunteers across 14 Ontario universities, with seven volunteers at Carleton.
Volunteers will participate in the group’s online campaign, Menstrual Day of Action, to destigmatize menstruation on March 25.
Despite being happy with the group’s progress in less than a year, Karp said free and accessible menstrual products are long overdue.
“This should have been solved long ago, when [our] parents were still in university or college,” she said. “It’s an ever-growing issue that needs to be solved right now.”
Graphic by Lara Sedele. With files from Zoya Davis.
