About 6 months ago, I wrote an article in MIT’s newspaper, The Tech, where I confessed about my experience of missing lectures due to the lack of menstrual products in school buildings. My article received an overwhelming amount of attention and support on social media as a lot of my MIT peers resonated with my experience. Since then, I've spoken with student leaders from Harvard, Yale, Princeton, Wellesley, etc to gain their insights on making free menstrual products a reality on their campuses. I've also been working closely with various student organizations and having sustained dialogues with MIT offices on this subject.
I hope to jumpstart further progress through the "Menstrual Insurance" project. As a MIT beaver, I believe that formulating a problem is a good start, but I need to put in concrete actions to solving the problem. So this weakly artistic craft project is my approach of making menstrual products more accessible on campus. I even learned to make a website in 2 days because that's tech is cool or something.
My vision is for MIT to be the pioneering institution in promoting equity in education, by expanding the MindHandHeart pilot in Spring 2020 as a starting point, and progressing towards free menstrual products permanently in all bathrooms. I believe that menstrual products should be in bathrooms like other staples such as toilet paper and soap. I believe that every MIT person who menstruates should have access to menstrual products wherever and whenever they might need them. I believe that providing these products for free and across various locations on campus promotes equality in education and scientific research. I believe that MIT cares about the physical and mental wellness of its students. I believe that MIT can be a leader in this global movement that advocates for basic rights and dignity.