Date of Award

January 2025

Document Type

Open Access Thesis

Degree Name

Master of Public Health (MPH)

Department

School of Public Health

First Advisor

Alice M. Miller

Second Advisor

Trace Kershaw

Abstract

This thesis examines period poverty as a consequence of systemic neglect, disproportionately affecting those made vulnerable by intersecting structures of racial, gendered, and economic injustice. Situating menstruation as a public health crisis shaped by policy failure, social stigma, and institutional disregard, this research critiques dominant legal and policy frameworks that approach menstrual equity through a limited scope that overlooks deeper structural inequalities rooted in race and class. This thesis explores how marginalized populations experience legal and welfare systems as sites of surveillance and moral judgment in the context of menstrual equity. Through seven semi-structured interviews with menstrual justice organizers, this study illustrates how these spaces function as holistic sites of resistance, rejecting stigma and reimaging health infrastructure in ways state programs have failed to do. Ultimately, this thesis calls for public health practitioners to recognize and defer to community expertise to address period poverty with a trust-centered approach. By foregrounding the lived experiences of grassroots organizers, I hope this work contributes to ongoing conversations in public health, reproductive justice, and menstrual equity to urge a reexamination of the state’s role in perpetuating and potentially redressing menstrual injustice.

Comments

This is an Open Access Thesis.

Download
Open Access

This Article is Open Access

Share

COinS