Around the world, only 12 percent of young people with periods have access to the products they need.In Kenya, 65 percent people don’t have enough money to buy menstrual products. In Burkina Faso, 83 percent of students don’t have a place to change menstrual products at school. In Africa, one in ten adolescent girls miss school during their period. Across the world, an estimated 100 million young people lack access to adequate menstrual products. In some countries, people are still isolated from their communities while on their periods. There are 50,000 women living on the streets nationwide, and with limited access to pads and tampons, and no steady, comfortable place to shower, they are forced to get creative with ways to keep clean when they have their periods.
On average, a woman has her period from three to seven days and the average woman menstruates from age 13 until age 51. That means the average woman endures some 456 total periods over 38 years, or roughly 2,280 days with her period — 6.25 years of her life. There are over 1, 200 women that are homeless in the Long Beach/Carson area. Nearly all of them do not have the means to purchase basic necessities for menstrual periods such as pads, tampons, and pantyliners. Because of this issue, individual females have to resort to using unsanitary products such as dirty tissues, used tampons/pads, and more, which increases the risk of HIV and other risky diseases. Some are forced to steal products. Others wait for homeless outreach crews to come by with pads. Some use socks, paper towels, plastic bags, toilet paper, towels, cotton balls, or clothing in place of hygiene products. In addition to not having this privilege, women are often harassed and humiliated by others for having a period, often because of its "disgusting" nature. After a survey taken on women in the Los Angeles area, we discovered that 77% of women view periods as something that they just have to put up with, and 74% believe that men have an advantage simply because they do not have periods. We also saw that 43% felt that they have needed to adjust their lives in some major aspects simply because they have a period, and 40% wish that they never had one at all. From these statistics, we knew that the lack of access to female hygiene product only made people's perspectives on this issue more negative. Because of the moral negativity associated with these issues, a large percentage of these underprivileged women also undergo major mental health issues.
LINKS
http://www.arhp.org/Publications-and-Resources/Studies-and-Surveys/Menstruation-and-Menstrual-Suppression-Survey/fact-sheet
https://www.bustle.com/articles/190092-this-is-how-homeless-women-cope-with-their-periods
https://www.huffingtonpost.com/2015/05/18/period-cost-lifetime_n_7258780.html
http://dignityperiod.org/five-things-to-know-about-menstrual-hygiene-around-the-world/
http://time.com/3989966/america-menstrual-crisis/
https://www.harpersbazaar.com/culture/features/a10235656/menstrual-period-united-states/
http://monthlygift.com/blog/in-the-news/a-look-at-global-access-to-hygiene-products/
http://www.latimes.com/socal/weekend/news/tn-wknd-et-0228-feminine-products-20160221-story.html
https://www.bustle.com/p/7-statistics-that-show-the-startling-reality-of-period-problems-around-the-world-64399
https://www.bustle.com/articles/190092-this-is-how-homeless-women-cope-with-their-periods
https://www.huffingtonpost.com/2015/05/18/period-cost-lifetime_n_7258780.html
http://dignityperiod.org/five-things-to-know-about-menstrual-hygiene-around-the-world/
http://time.com/3989966/america-menstrual-crisis/
https://www.harpersbazaar.com/culture/features/a10235656/menstrual-period-united-states/
http://monthlygift.com/blog/in-the-news/a-look-at-global-access-to-hygiene-products/
http://www.latimes.com/socal/weekend/news/tn-wknd-et-0228-feminine-products-20160221-story.html
https://www.bustle.com/p/7-statistics-that-show-the-startling-reality-of-period-problems-around-the-world-64399