Central Connecticut State University’s Student Government Association (SGA) and the Ruthe Boyea Women’s Center announced they are supporting a bill to provide students and staff with free menstrual hygiene products on campus. 

The bill introduced by the Public Health Committee during the 2022 Legislative Session, HB 5272, would also provide menstrual hygiene products to others at various other places in Connecticut. 

The bill would be funded under the Connecticut State Budget.

Haley Serrano, a CCSU student, said she hopes the bill passes. 

“Pads and tampons are a necessary product for those with periods,” she said. “It’s not optional for us to have them.” 

SGA voiced their support of the bill in an email on April 27 to CCSU, a week before the final day of the 2022 Legislative Session. 

It is expected to be voted on during the last week of the session.

According to the Alliance of Period Products, 1 in 8 women between the ages of 12 and 44 in Connecticut live below the Federal Poverty line. 

In the United States, the Alliance of Period Products has estimated that 1 in 4 women struggle to purchase menstrual hygiene products due to lack of income. 

In the email sent out by SGA, they said that this bill would help many different students who menstruate on campus. 

“Central Connecticut State University serves approximately 5,600 menstruating persons,” the email said. “…this [the statistics] would indicate that more than 1,000 menstruating persons [on campus] are affected by menstrual poverty and lack of access to necessary products.”

The Women’s Center has also made a Change.org petition calling for free menstrual hygiene products on CCSU’s campus if HB 5272 would not pass. 

At this time, the petition has garnered 561 signatures. 

Duku Nyarko, a Central student, said he wants to see menstrual hygiene products accessible for all students at CCSU. 

“If condoms are provided for free [on campus], why aren’t menstrual hygiene products free?” he said.