LOUISVILLE, Ky. — Louisville’s Office for Women is making period products more accessible. The office announced Friday a pilot program that would stock restrooms with free tampons and pads. The items are now in 18 public restrooms at Metro Hall and the Louisville Metro Department of Public Health and Wellness building.

What You Need To Know

  • Louisville’s Office for Women is offering free period products

  • 18 restrooms at Metro Hall and Louisville Metro Department of Public Health and Wellness will be stocked

  • City leaders say this is to help increase equity when it comes to these products

  • A study found that nearly a quarter of teens struggle to afford period products

“There is not a person alive, in my opinion, who has menstruated in their life, that they cannot remember that moment in time of one of the most embarrassing, humiliating moments in their life,” Deputy Mayor Barbara Sexton Smith said Friday.

The pilot program stocks gender-neural, women’s, and men’s restrooms. Sexton Smith explains why all three are included.

“The reason is a father, a brother, a grandfather, an uncle, a great-grandfather may be in that space and may know that there is someone menstruating nearby him, and he could be the one that could pick that up for that individual,” Sexton Smith said.

Connie Mendel, interim chief health strategist for the health department, explains not having access to these products can cause serious problems. From stress and embarrassment to something as serious as toxic shock syndrome.

“Given the expense of period products and where some people cannot afford those or do not have access to them, they may try to extend the life of the products that they have, for instance, tampons wearing them longer than they should, which could create a myriad of health issues,” Mendel said.

City leaders hope this pilot program will encourage other businesses in the city to offer these products, for free, in their restrooms too.

“So if we want to allow women and people who menstruate to fully participate in school work and be in public spaces, this is a first step,” Gretchen Hunt, director of the Louisville Office for Women,said.

Kentucky is one of 21 states that taxes feminine hygiene products. According to the Office for Women, the so-called “pink tax” is one of the contributing factors towards period poverty. A national study found nearly a quarter of teens struggle to afford period products.

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