Ohio U Student Senate hopes to have free period products in every bathroom by 2028
Editor’s note: Please note that this story was updated to reflect that a woman will spend $42,000 on period products in their lifetime.
Ohio University Student Senate passed a bill at its general body meeting on Feb. 22, that called on the university to provide free Aunt Flow period products in every campus restroom. The bill was introduced by Women’s Affairs Commissioner Megan Handle.
Handle, a junior social work major at Ohio U, began her research on the project in fall of 2022. She started by looking at what other universities partnered with Aunt Flow have done, including their rollout rates and how the first stage of the process would look like. Handle also talked with Aunt Flow’s happiness developer, Austin Bevins, the company representative who coordinates with schools.
Handle received support for the bill from both female-identifying and male-identifying students on campus, which only increased after Aunt Flow’s founder and CEO Claire Coder presented at Women Entrepreneurship Week. Handle received over 20 emails from students, faculty and alumni sharing why they thought this was an important initiative. The bill itself had over 40 secondary sponsors, including students both inside and outside of senate. Ohio U Graduate Student Senate is also working on a bill to show its support for the project.
Handle (left) and Coder (right) pictured together at Women Entrepreneurship Week. Photo courtesy of Handle.
Currently, Ohio U provides free pads and tampons to students in Baker Center. Handle would often find that these dispensers were left unstocked, and the supplies were limited to women’s restrooms. Handle wants to expand the accessibility of period products to the men’s and single-user restrooms.
“Nobody has fair and equal access to these products,” Handle said. “What can we do as a Senate to fix this problem, because we’re the ones currently funding it.”
Handle plans to put an equal number of products in men’s and women’s restrooms to provide all students with access. A general consensus from male students who have supported her bill have said that it would not bother them to see period products in their restrooms, even if they do not need to use them.
“This is such a positive thing for showing accessibility and genuine respect for bodies that menstruate and just making it an inclusive environment, especially with all the talk about making respect visible,” Handle said. “It's super important to show positive inclusivity like having a dispenser in the men's restroom. There's no shame or stigma around having a body that menstruates and using that bathroom.”
Handle is focused on more than just the bill passing, but also its execution. Handle presented her research and plans to President Sherman a week after senate passed the bill. She has also been working closely with Ohio U’s Chief of Staff Carly Leatherwood on the request for proposal to the university, since it would fund the project instead of senate.
In order to put dispensers in all of the bathrooms on campus, including in the dormitories, it would cost around $250,000, and a total of $270,820 with period products included. The funds would be split to between $50,000 to $70,000 each year for four or five years. After the initial cost, the school would spend an additional $42,000 annually to keep the dispensers stocked.
On average, a woman will spend nearly $42,000 on period products in their lifetime, not including the costs associated with period complications, according to Pandia Health.
“The school spends $123,000 every year on toilet paper, so that’s $5.59 per urinating student that goes to the bathroom,” Handle said. “But if we were to provide period products, it would be only $3.18 per (menstruating student).”
If the proposal is accepted by the university, Handle and Leatherwood plan to have the first roll out this summer, with the project completed by the summer of 2028. Assistant Director of the Ohio U Women’s Center Letitia Price has also assisted Handle with the rollout planning process.
Handle’s favorite part about this project has been hearing students’ stories and support.
“No one wants to talk about being on their period or a time where they had to run because they were bleeding through their pants,” Handle said. “But people being willing to do that and stand up in front of people to say something is just so, so cool.”
The bill’s secondary sponsors were made up of both women and men, inside and outside of senate. Photo courtesy of Handle.
