Opinion: Prisons that Withhold Menstrual Pads Humiliate Women and Violate Basic Rights

Abstract

In this personal narrative, Bozelko shares her experience of being without adequate menstrual supplies while incarcerated. She describes the atmosphere of privation, including the shame and humiliation of staining her clothes and having to ask for tampons and pads from male guards. Bozelko argues that the issue is not a shortage of materials but the power differential between guards and inmates. Guards preventing women from accessing menstrual materials is both unnecessarily degrading and a human rights violation.