ʻIlima Intermediate teacher brings national attention to period poverty in Hawaii
Posted: March 17, 2022
The state House Education Committee Thursday unanimously advanced a bill poised to end period poverty in Hawaii. Hawaii would be the sixth state in the U.S. to require public schools to provide free period products to students, should the bill be signed into law.
SB2821 SD2 most recently passed its third reading on the full Senate floor last week. During the session, Senate Vice President Michelle Kidani recognized the efforts of ʻIlima Intermediate teacher and menstrual equity activist Sarah Milianta-Laffin and her students in helping take the menstrual equity bill so far.
“May I do a shoutout to the students of Ilima Intermediate School activist club?” Kidani asked. “These students with their teacher, Sarah Milianta-Laffin, supported this bill all along and this movement as well as our friend Nikki Yee. Their three-year journey for menstrual equity in our public schools has been an impactful social justice movement with their strong passion and persistence, which have taken them to voting today unanimously in the Senate chambers on this bill, providing with good policy support, community care, and educational equity.
“I had the opportunity to visit these students and Miss Mili last year, and I’m so proud to work with them on this issue. Thank you all for your hard work and dedication, ʻIlima students and Miss Mili,” Kidani said.
During Thursday’s House Education Committee hearing, Riezel-Nicole Escoto, one of Milianta-Laffin’s 8th-grade students at ʻIlima, testified live in support of the bill and said, “Passing SB2821 SD2 would be a big step for all of us who menstruate. I believe this is true because not only will it be convenient for all of us but it would also make a great impact and example for other states.”
BryceLee Rio, another of Milianta-Laffin’s student activists, testified, “Pricing for menstruation product is horrendous because the pricing for a 12 pack of pads is $6 to $10. How do you think a girl would be able to survive a whole week with seven pads or even more? This is why I strongly urge you guys to pass SB2821 SD2 to ensure equity and dignity to menstruating students.”
Providing period products reduces student absences, pilot finds
During Thursday’s hearing, Nikki Yee of Maʻi Movement Hawaiʻi, a nonprofit that’s committed to ending period poverty in Hawaii by advocating for menstrual equity, provided data to House Education Committee Chair Justin Woodson (D, Kahului, Puunene) about how many students actually miss school due to menstruation.
In Maʻi Movement’s pilot of six Hawaii schools during the 2021—22 school year, Yee “found that 13% of students reported missing at least one school day because they lacked access to period products. For faculty, one out of four reported the same. For students that missed part of the school day, 22% said they miss part of the school day, and one out of two faculty said they witnessed the same.
“By mid-year, we found that there was an improvement in that reporting…Even in spite of having a lot of COVID absences, 37% of faculty reported that having period products helps students reduce missed class or absence. And this was just in one semester,” Yee reported.
Milianta-Laffin helps bring national attention to Hawaii’s fight for menstrual equity
Milianta-Laffin’s advocacy for menstrual equity in Hawaii public schools earned a national spotlight after she recently wrote an article called “How to Build a Menstruation Station at Your School” for Edutopia, an educational website published by the George Lucas Educational Foundation.
“I never meant to become the ‘period teacher,’ Milianta-Laffin wrote. “But when a student was bullied for bleeding through her clothing (as happens in middle school), my students wanted to take action.”
She detailed her journey into wanting to end period poverty in Hawaii, starting with creating a menstruation station in her classroom for students complete with free period supplies such as pads and tampons. “For me, having a menstruation station in my classroom is social justice—or, more specifically, reproductive justice,” she said.
Milianta-Laffin is able to keep the station fully stocked through donations, crowdsourcing funding, and completing product drives.
Her larger goal is to end period stigma for all menstruators is evidenced by her legislative work that calls for menstrual equity to all menstruators in Hawaii’s public schools.
SB2821 SD2 will next be heard by the House Finance Committee.