Montanez 1

Natalie Montanez

Professor Robin Kramer

CAS 138T

12 April 2018

Free to be Female

The imprisonment of female criminals has escalated beyond measure over the past

century. There are currently 96,000 women in local jails, 99,000 in state prisons, 14,000 in

federal prisons, and 4,600 in youth prisons (Kajstura). This many women alone can fill up

Beaver Stadium - twice. Yes, they have been convicted of crimes, however, being a criminal

does not disregard the fact that these women are still humans; they should not be denied basic

essentials. Feminine-hygiene products are a necessity for all women of menstruating age, yet

access to them is limited for women in prison. There have been great strides to help incarcerated

women in federal prisons with the implementation of the striving Dignity for Incarcerated

Women Act, but it is not enough to only apply these laws to specific prisons. All incarcerated

women deserve equal access to feminine hygiene products, and this could be done by applying a

form of the Dignity for Incarcerated Women Act to all prisons - whether it be federal, state, or

local.

Women in prisons do not have access to feminine hygiene products mostly due to

socioeconomic inequality. The average person in jail makes between $0.14-$1.25 an hour

(Prison Wages: Appendix). This is such a miniscule amount of money in comparison to the

median amount of $26.82 the average person makes in the United States (“US Average Hourly

Earnings”). The little amount of money an inmate earns can be used towards products at the
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Prison Commissary for necessities like extra food, clothing, or name-brand hygienic products.

These products become available to incarcerated women, but not without a price. Inmates cannot

buy these items considering the negligible amount of money they make, so are they stuck with

whatever is provided by the jail system. According to an article from ​Arizona Central​, women

would have to work 21 hours to buy an average box of pads and 27 hours to buy a regular box of

tampons (White). Imagine slaving away doing manual labor for a month, just to buy a few pads.

Instead of spending money on hygiene products, these women could use that money to earn a

phone call with their families, which is intrinsically more valuable. A lot of these womens’

families are living a life of poverty; therefore, the inmates receive little to no financial support

from them. This makes it even more difficult for them to attain the feminine hygiene products

they need. Combining all these financial struggles, women have to use every resource possible in

order to gain the funds necessary to buy the products they really need.

Prisons do give out pads; however, there is a mishandling in the methods of distribution

between the correction officers and inmates. In Arizona, women in prison originally were given

12 pads a month, and could have a maximum of 24 at a time (Boroff). Based on first hand

accounts of women from prisons across the United States, pads given out by the jail are of

extremely low quality. Adrienne Kitcheyan was a former inmate of Perryville, the only prison in

Arizona that houses women. She testified in court against the Arizona Department of

Corrections, in which she told stories of how “Bloodstained pants, bartering, and begging for

pads and tampons was a regular occurrence,” within the prison (Harloe). Similar occurrences in

which bargaining pads and tampons is the norm and a woman’s period is treated as an

inconvenience also occur in the New York prison system. For example, a woman named Tara
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Oldfield was arrested for shoplifting. While in prison, she had gotten her period, but when she

asked for a pad, there was nothing to be found. Over an hour later, she received a gauze pad

instead (Greenberg). According to Greenberg’s article from ​The New York Times​, the prisons in

New York have the necessary feminine hygiene products to give to women. Nevertheless, they

withhold them in order to instill a power dynamic between the correction officers and the

incarcerated women. At Riker’s Island prison in New York, it is up to officers to determine how

many pads each women gets. The well-liked women receive feminine-hygiene products upon

request, while other women have to beg the officers for the basic necessities (Greenberg). This

power dynamic is destructive to both the mental and physical health of a women. The issue of

power has detrimental effects in terms of physical abuse to these women.

A woman’s physical health is put at risk when there is a lack of care for them in these

prisons. Because these women cannot afford pads and tampons, and the ones made available to

them are lacking in quality, they have to find other ways to protect themselves. Molly Nygren, a

nurse, stated that the women she treats will use creative methods to make their pad supply last

longer. They will take pads and twist them together, creating “makeshift tampons” (Jenkins 1).

To the women, this may seem like a good way to make their supplies last, yet it is detrimental to

their health. The makeshift tampon approach, or the long-term use of a singular pad or tampon

for an elongated amount of days can lead to bacterial or fungal infections. Pads and tampons are

meant to be worn for a maximum of eight hours, anything above that can also lead to Toxic

Shock Syndrome, a life threatening bacterial infection (Jenkins). These women are already

serving time for their committed crimes, but are also placed in the position to suffer from disease

as well.
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In addition, having your period in prison is considered a shameful process, and a

women’s mental health is ignored. Seventy-five percent of women in jails have mental health

problems and an issue with substance abuse (Clark). This staggering statistic in conjunction with

a lack of care for these woman, has an unacceptable affect on the women. A woman using the

surname Christine told her story from Bedford Hills Correctional Facility in which she was

humiliated by the correctional officers. Christine had gotten her period in the facility but did not

have pads. However, her father was coming to visit her and she had to be strip searched. Because

she had no pads available, she had blood dripping down her body, and the corrections officer

berated her, making her feel disgusting (Greenberg). Women like Christine are forced to feel

useless because of something they cannot control. A former Arizona Corrections inmate made a

point about mental health in prisons due to this issue stating, “Something crazy happens when

you start treating people like people: They start acting like it” (Jenkins). If these women were

treated like human beings, they may have an easier time adjusting to life outside of jail and

becoming a better member of society in the long run.

A change is necessary to help these women in prison, because everyone deserves a basic

dignity and respect. A national conversation began in July 2017 after popular senators Cory

Booker, Elizabeth Warren, Kamala Harris, and Dick Durbin introduced the Dignity for

Incarcerated Women Act, which was a bill that would help make prisons safer and more humane

for women. The bill’s purpose is to support rehabilitation, consider children’s lives while their

mothers are in jail, ban shackling and solitary confinement for pregnant women, and prohibit

prisons from charging for essential health care items (Booker). These “essential care items”

include tampons and pads. This bill essentially led to the Federal Bureau of Prisons making
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feminine-hygiene products free for their inmates. Unfortunately, this only applies to Federal

prisons, which means that less than 10% of female inmates are affected by this well-deserved

movement (O’Connor). A majority of women are not held in the federal prisons, they are placed

in local and state prisons, so this bill has no effect on this group of ignored women.

If the bill is enacted in state and local prisons, it could be a game-changer for incarcerated

women. With this bill, women are protected against strip searches by male correctional officers

under most conditions, and if they are a mother, she can be placed in the prison closest to her

children. On top of that, women will be able to get the products biologically necessary for their

menstrual health at no cost. Not only does this bill provide feminine-hygiene products and the

ability for a woman to be seen by a gynecologist, but it also provides other regular healthcare

products like shampoo, toothpaste, and aspirin (Booker). These products would otherwise be at a

loss to this marginalized and ignored group of women. Unfortunately, state and local prisons do

not have the funds necessary to implement it in their own prisons.

Because there is a lack of funding towards this issue, there have been other attempts to

make bills similar to the Dignity for Incarcerated Women Act. Recently, HB 2222 is in the

process of being enacted in Arizona. Arizona has one state prison, Perryville, that was not

assisting the inmates in terms of menstrual health. Athena Salman, a democratic representative

from Arizona introduced the bill, pushing for unlimited, free feminine-hygiene products for

female inmates(O’Connor). It is very similar to the Dignity for Incarcerated Women act,

however, it is being applied to state prisons. The same end goal is in mind: getting all

incarcerated women the menstrual products they deserve.

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This bill is in the process of going through hearings, however it did already make an

impact. The Department of Corrections in Arizona increased the number of pads given for free to

an inmate by three times: Instead of twelve pads, the women will now be allocated 36 pads

(Vera). Is this enough? Although an increase in the number of pads is beneficial, the women are

still not provided with the more convenient tampon, or given any of the benefits listed above in

the Dignity of Incarcerated Women Act (Vera). Upping the number of pads is not going to solve

this controversial issue. An unlimited amount of feminine-products should be supplied because

all women are different. Choosing to give the women thirty six pads instead of twelve, is only a

temporary solution and will eventually become pointless. All women are different and cannot be

placed in a generic categorization where the Department of Corrections believes that some

number of pads is enough.

Other states have also started pushing for change, including Maryland. Senate Bill 598

would require Maryland prisons and jails to provide “quality sanitary pads and tampons to

female inmates on demand and without cost” (Dodd). Again, this is very similar to the Dignity of

Incarcerated Women Act, and is being applied in a state with bipartisan support. If this

movement continues to spread, it could be applied to every state using the basis of the Dignity of

Incarcerated Women Act.

In contrast, there are facilities that are doing absolutely nothing to help women in terms

of menstrual equity. In New York prisons, the Department of Corrections and Community

Supervision make women show a medical permit in order to receive more pads. Certain jails in

New York, or elsewhere require a diagnosis of anemia in order for a woman to receive more

pads (Kraft). Prisons like these would rather women go through a lot of trouble to prove
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something is wrong with them over an uncontrollable biological functions. The Department of

Corrections and Community Supervision have the funds to provide more pads to women, but

refuse to do so. They list excuse after excuse, however, none are relevant enough to convince

anyone that they want to help women. It should be easy. Women are in need of help, and the jails

should do all they can to provide the women with what they need to be healthy and able to do

their time under safe conditions. The best way to do this is to apply similar acts, like the Dignity

for Incarcerated Women Act.

In conclusion, women in all prisons need access to free feminine hygiene products. This

is about more than just a pad or tampon; it is about respecting the dignity of women. Although

these women are detained for committing crimes, they are still human beings who deserve

respect. A woman cannot stop herself from getting her period. But the implementation of the

Dignity for Incarcerated Women Act and acts like it can stop the vicious cycle of mistreatment of

women being failed by the United States justice system.

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Works Cited

Aleks. “Women's Mass Incarceration: The Whole Pie 2017.” Women's Mass

Incarceration: The Whole Pie 2017 | Prison Policy Initiative, 19 Oct. 2017,

www.prisonpolicy.org/reports/pie2017women.html

Booker, and Cory. “Text - S.1524 - 115th Congress (2017-2018): Dignity Act.” Congress.gov,

11

July 2017, www.congress.gov/bill/115th-congress/senate-bill/1524/text.

Booker, Cory, and Elizabeth Warren. “Booker and Warren: Women in Prison Deserve Dignity.”

CNN, Cable News Network, 5 Sept. 2017,

www.cnn.com/2017/09/05/opinions/female-prisoners-dignity-act-booker-warren-opinion

index.html​.

Boroff, David. “Bill Would Give Women in Arizona Prisons Full Access to Tampons.” NY

Daily

News, NEW YORK DAILY NEWS, 9 Feb. 2018,

www.nydailynews.com/news/national/bill-give-women-arizona-prisons-full-access-tamp

ons-article-1.3810810.

Clark, Jared C. “Inequality in Prison.” Monitor on Psychology, American Psychological

Association, Oct. 2009, www.apa.org/monitor/2009/10/recidivism.aspx.

Dodd, Cameron. “Bill Aims to Put More Women's Hygiene Products in Maryland Prisons.” The

Frederick News-Post, 1 Feb. 2018,

www.fredericknewspost.com/news/crime_and_justice/prison/bill-aims-to-put-more-wo
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en-s-hygiene-products-in/article_f86923ba-af25-5c7b-b2cf-682822442581.html.Kajstura,

Greenberg, Zoe. “In Jail, Pads and Tampons as Bargaining Chips.” The New York Times, The

New York Times, 20 Apr. 2017,

www.nytimes.com/2017/04/20/nyregion/pads-tampons-new-york-womens-prisons.html.

Harloe, Kate. “Women in Arizona State Prison Would Have to Work 27 Hours Just to Get a Box

of Tampons.” Mother Jones, 8 Feb. 2018,

www.motherjones.com/politics/2018/02/women-in-arizona-state-prison-would-have-to-

ork-27-hours-just-to-get-a-box-of-tampons/.

Jenkins, Jimmy. “'Pads And Tampons And The Problems With Periods:' All-Male Committee

Hears Arizona Bill On Feminine Hygiene Products In Prison.” KJZZ, 12 Feb. 2018,

Kajstura, Aleks. “Women's Mass Incarceration: The Whole Pie 2017.” Women's Mass

Incarceration: The Whole Pie 2017 | Prison Policy Initiative, 19 Oct. 2017,

www.prisonpolicy.org/reports/pie2017women.html.

Kraft-Stolar, Tamar. Reproductive Injustice: the State of Reproductive Health Care for Women
in
New York State Prisons: a Report of the Women in Prison Project of the Correctional
Association of New York. Correctional Association of New York, 2015.

O'Connor, Lydia. “Federal Prisons Made Menstrual Products Free. Now Some States May

Follow Suit.” The Huffington Post, TheHuffingtonPost.com, 7 Feb. 2018,

www.huffingtonpost.com/entry/state-prison-free-pads-tampons_us_5a7b427be4b08dfc92

ff5231.

“Prison Wages: Appendix.” Prison Wages: Appendix | Prison Policy Initiative,

www.prisonpolicy.org/reports/wage_policies.html​.
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“US Average Hourly Earnings:” YCharts, ycharts.com/indicators/average_hourly_earnings.

Vera, Amir. “Female Inmates in Arizona Only Got 12 Free Pads a Month. A Movement Helped

Triple That.” CNN, Cable News Network, 14 Feb. 2018,

www.cnn.com/2018/02/14/us/arizona-department-of-corrections-feminine-hygiene-prod

cts/index.html.

White, Kaila. “12 Pads a Month, No Tampons: Is That Enough for Arizona's Incarcerated

Women?” Azcentral, The Republic | Azcentral.com, 11 Feb. 2018,

www.azcentral.com/story/news/politics/legislature/2018/02/07/arizona-female-inmates-

et-12-menstrual-pads-month-bill-proposes-more-legislature/312152002/.