“Today was an absolutely amazing day,” Summers said. “We educated some 30 young ladies from the West Jackson area about menstrual health, reproductive health, and we're providing them feminine hygiene products that they can take back home and be able to have access to.”
Healthcare professionals spoke at the event, educating the audience of girls ages 9 and up on menstrual health and etiquette. The professionals took questions from both children and their parents. Naomi Jackson, CEO of the Mississippi Girls and Boys Club, says women of all ages need more education on this topic.
“It is very important for them to get the knowledge, to be able to get motivated, get inspired, and get the information, the CORRECT information,” Jackson said. “When we was little… sometimes we get the wrong information… To get it from a professional firsthand, it is very important.”
This week has been dubbed “Period Poverty Awareness Week” by the Alliance for Period Supplies, who state that 1 in 3 low-income women miss work or school due to a lack of menstrual care products.
Summers co-sponsored the recently passed HB 1264 during the 2023 legislative session, which requires schools to provide period products such as pads and tampons to students aged 6-12 at no cost.
“So that's one way that we are tackling this period poverty issue in the state of Mississippi,” she said. “There are more things that we can do… I hope that we can get other women from across the state to contact their legislators, make them aware that this is an issue and that they should be supporting pieces of legislation that will help to bring access to our young women and our young girls.”
There is a 7% tax on period products enforced by Mississippi law, dubbed the “pink tax” by activists. Summers says this tax can be an obstacle for women in poverty to get the products they need. Nearly 25.1% of women ages 18-44 in the state live in poverty, the highest poverty rate for women in the nation, according toAmerica’s Health Rankings. The representative says she hopes to tackle the tax issue soon.
“I introduced some legislation this session that unfortunately did not make it out of committee,” she said. “We know that in the super majority Republican legislature, we don't always like tax credits or tax cuts for those that need it the most. We see tax cuts for wealthy individuals and corporations, but we need to pay attention to the people that live in our communities who do need a little break… taxing these kinds of products could really make the difference between whether or not someone can afford it or not.”
According to a nationwide Harvard School of Medicine study, 21% of women reported that they were unable to afford period products every month.
