"For Men, by Men": Menstrual Victimization and the Weaponization of Period Products in Carceral Settings

Overview

Journal Womens Health (Lond)

Specialty Gynecology & Obstetrics

Date 2024 Mar 30

PMID 38554068

Authors

Kathryn Tapp

Abigail Henson

Affiliations

Soon will be listed here.

Abstract

Background: The literature on menstruation defines period poverty as the inability to access sufficient period products, education, and sanitary facilities needed to manage menstruation healthily and effectively. While research has identified shortcomings of healthcare in the carceral setting, period poverty behind bars has remained largely absent from criminal legal discourse.

Objectives: The current study examines the interplay of period poverty and carceral control to introduce the novel concept of menstrual victimization, defined as the physical, emotional, and financial victimization that results from period poverty perpetuated through carceral control.

Methods: The study uses qualitative content analysis to systematically gather and code journalistic accounts pertaining to the menstrual experiences of incarcerated and previously incarcerated females, criminal justice practitioners, and journalists. The analysis uses literary pieces ( = 99), which were coded deductively and guided by concepts related to structural violence and radical feminist criminology.

Results: The findings shed light on the unique structural harms incarcerated menstruators face and reveal the dearth of needed empirical research on period poverty in carceral spaces. The narratives in the sample revealed how manufactured scarcity of period products within carceral spaces is used as a means of oppression by institutional agents. The emergent themes highlight how the intersection of period poverty and carceral control led to menstrual victimization characterized through shame, humiliation, control, and coercion.

Conclusion: Potential outcomes associated with understanding menstrual victimization in the carceral setting are discussed, including reducing menstrual stigma, disseminating health education, minimizing health disparities, and ultimately, shifting modes of holding accountability away from oppressive, retributive, and controlling tactics.

References

Elo S, Kyngas H . The qualitative content analysis process. J Adv Nurs. 2008; 62(1):107-15. DOI: 10.1111/j.1365-2648.2007.04569.x. View

Li A, Bellis E, Girling J, Jayasinghe Y, Grover S, Marino J . Unmet Needs and Experiences of Adolescent Girls with Heavy Menstrual Bleeding and Dysmenorrhea: A Qualitative Study. J Pediatr Adolesc Gynecol. 2019; 33(3):278-284. DOI: 10.1016/j.jpag.2019.11.007. View

COLE F . Content analysis: process and application. Clin Nurse Spec. 1988; 2(1):53-7. DOI: 10.1097/00002800-198800210-00025. View

Miller D . The norm of self-interest. Am Psychol. 2004; 54(12):1053-60. DOI: 10.1037/0003-066x.54.12.1053. View

Soeiro R, Rocha L, Surita F, Bahamondes L, Costa M . Period poverty: menstrual health hygiene issues among adolescent and young Venezuelan migrant women at the northwestern border of Brazil. Reprod Health. 2021; 18(1):238. PMC: 8626730. DOI: 10.1186/s12978-021-01285-7. View

Rossouw L, Ross H . Understanding Period Poverty: Socio-Economic Inequalities in Menstrual Hygiene Management in Eight Low- and Middle-Income Countries. Int J Environ Res Public Health. 2021; 18(5). PMC: 7967348. DOI: 10.3390/ijerph18052571. View

Cardoso L, Scolese A, Hamidaddin A, Gupta J . Period poverty and mental health implications among college-aged women in the United States. BMC Womens Health. 2021; 21(1):14. PMC: 7788986. DOI: 10.1186/s12905-020-01149-5. View

Hunter E, Palovick K, Teni M, Sebert Kuhlmann A . COVID-19 made it harder to access period products: The effects of a pandemic on period poverty. Front Reprod Health. 2022; 4:1003040. PMC: 9685992. DOI: 10.3389/frph.2022.1003040. View

Reeves E . A synthesis of the literature on trauma-informed care. Issues Ment Health Nurs. 2015; 36(9):698-709. DOI: 10.3109/01612840.2015.1025319. View

10.

Gorfinkel I, Perlow E, MacDonald S . The trauma-informed genital and gynecologic examination. CMAJ. 2021; 193(28):E1090. PMC: 8315200. DOI: 10.1503/cmaj.210331. View

11.

Trant A, Vash-Margita A, Camenga D, Braverman P, Wagner D, Espinal M . Menstrual Health and Hygiene among Adolescents in the United States. J Pediatr Adolesc Gynecol. 2022; 35(3):277-287. DOI: 10.1016/j.jpag.2021.12.014. View

12.

Phillips-Howard P, Otieno G, Burmen B, Otieno F, Odongo F, Odour C . Menstrual Needs and Associations with Sexual and Reproductive Risks in Rural Kenyan Females: A Cross-Sectional Behavioral Survey Linked with HIV Prevalence. J Womens Health (Larchmt). 2015; 24(10):801-11. PMC: 4624246. DOI: 10.1089/jwh.2014.5031. View

13.

Jaafar H, Ismail S, Azzeri A . Period Poverty: A Neglected Public Health Issue. Korean J Fam Med. 2023; 44(4):183-188. PMC: 10372806. DOI: 10.4082/kjfm.22.0206. View

14.

Hsieh H, Shannon S . Three approaches to qualitative content analysis. Qual Health Res. 2005; 15(9):1277-88. DOI: 10.1177/1049732305276687. View

15.

Brantelid I, Nilver H, Alehagen S . Menstruation during a lifespan: A qualitative study of women's experiences. Health Care Women Int. 2013; 35(6):600-16. DOI: 10.1080/07399332.2013.868465. View

16.

Brown S, Ireland C . Coping style and distress in newly incarcerated male adolescents. J Adolesc Health. 2006; 38(6):656-61. DOI: 10.1016/j.jadohealth.2005.09.005. View

17.

Gouvernet B, Sebbe F, Chapillon P, Rezrazi A, Brisson J . Period poverty and mental health in times of Covid-19 in France. Health Care Women Int. 2022; 44(5):657-669. DOI: 10.1080/07399332.2022.2070625. View

18.

Farmer P, Nizeye B, Stulac S, Keshavjee S . Structural violence and clinical medicine. PLoS Med. 2006; 3(10):e449. PMC: 1621099. DOI: 10.1371/journal.pmed.0030449. View

19.

Schmitt M, Wood O, Clatworthy D, Rashid S, Sommer M . Innovative strategies for providing menstruation-supportive water, sanitation and hygiene (WASH) facilities: learning from refugee camps in Cox's bazar, Bangladesh. Confl Health. 2021; 15(1):10. PMC: 7912835. DOI: 10.1186/s13031-021-00346-9. View

20.

Carneiro M . Menstrual poverty: enough is enough. Women Health. 2021; 61(8):721-722. DOI: 10.1080/03630242.2021.1970502. View