Women’s History Month + Menstruation: Highlight from Georgia Highlands College

On March 20, Georgia Highlands College (GHC) celebrated Women’s History Month by having Georgia STOMP Co-Lead Adele Stewart come and speak about menstrual equity and period poverty in Georgia. Students, faculty, and staff attended. Notably present were students of a sociology class, and the discussion focused on how menstrual equity relates to their studies of gender and politics.

The talk was organized by Julia Areh, the Douglasville Instructional Site Director for GHC. She had recently been involved in a period product drive conducted by the Junior League of Douglas County, of which she is a member. As part of GHC’s Women’s History Month celebrations, Areh also coordinated a successful period product drive. The products students, faculty, and staff collected are now being stored in GHC’s food pantry, where they will be easily accessible to those who need them.

The effects have rippled out of the class and discussion to more of the GHC community. “Since (Georgia STOMP’s) visit, I’ve overheard many conversations about menstrual equity,  period poverty and how we all can support menstruators,” Areh reports. “Last Sunday I was running errands and ran into one of our Dual Enrollment students who was present at the presentation. She told me she’s been talking to her family and friends about what she learned.”

The power of removing the harmful stigma on menstruation and talking publicly about what menstrual equity means is significant, and vital for progress. Without these conversations, we likely would still be in the dark about period poverty in our communities, and wouldn’t be able to highlight stories of organizations like GHC who are improving the lives of menstruators by taking a stand to increase access and affordability of necessary menstrual supplies.

Thank you, GHC, for hosting Georgia STOMP!

If you or your group wants to engage in the menstrual equity conversation, email GeorgiaSTOMP@gmail.com to discuss a presentation!