Period poverty is a global issue experienced by millions of people, especially houseless, low-income and Black and Brown communities. Still, so many are unaware of what this is. The stigmas surrounding menstruation, sexual health, and gender have all contributed to the mass dismissal of this topic as a health crisis, preventing many from recieving help.
In fact, periods are so stigmatized that many can’t even utter the word period or menstruation: it’s the cycle, that time of the month, Aunt Flo or so many other euphemisms that deflect from this naturally occurring bodily function.
At Illinois Latino News and its sibling affiliates under the Latino News Network banner, we view our readers, you, as an extension of our newsroom. If journalism is a public service, you are our collaborators, our partners.
In covering this topic, we need your help.
We want to know your experiences dealing with menstruation and/or period poverty to provide the most well-rounded, thorough coverage of this issue. In collecting this information, we hope to gain insight on how this issue affects those in our communities.
We hope to use the data collected from this survey to shape our storytelling and provide the answers you most want to hear.
This data will also be used to plan the final portion of this project, a digital community conversation that will provide a platform for these important discussions to take place.
Please participate in the Addressing Period Poverty Survey by following this link https://forms.gle/EueiD5FtTrWv5qKN8.
The survey will also be available in Spanish in the coming weeks.
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Editor’s Note: In July, Illinois Latino News announced my participation in The Center for Health Journalism’s 2022 National Fellowship. My intention through this project is to encourage conversations about menstruation, grant a platform to those most affected by period poverty and ultimately, contribute to the destigmatization of periods.
My introduction to this topic was published by the Center for Health Journalism.
To share any questions, comments, concerns or suggestions please contact me at annabel@latinonewsnetwork.com.