Outreach to End Period Poverty in St. Louis
Dignity Period board member Anne Sebert Kuhlmann and her team at St. Louis University conducted a research study that uncovered unmet menstrual hygiene needs among low-income women in St. Louis.
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Nearly two thirds (64%) of women were unable to afford needed menstrual hygiene supplies during the previous year.
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One-fifth of women (21%) experienced this monthly.
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Many women make do with cloth, rags, tissues, or toilet paper; some even use children’s diapers or paper towels taken from public bathrooms.
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Nearly half of women (46%) could not afford to buy both food and menstrual hygiene products during the past year.
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There was no difference in menstrual hygiene needs by age.
Read more about the research.
Dignity Period is proud to partner with the St. Louis Alliance for Period Supplies, Cotton Babies, St. Louis Public Schools, and other organizations that share our commitment to ending period poverty and advancing educational equity for girls in our hometown and beyond.
Meet the St. Louisans fighting to end period poverty in our city
Photo by Matt Marcinkowski.
This is not a luxury. It’s a need. It affects a woman’s sense of self, her sense of dignity and her ability to participate in life.
Anne Sebert Kuhlmann
Dignity Period Board Member
