Proud menstrual equity advocate, Memorial Political Science student, and founder of Period Priority Project, Leisha Toory, is making menstrual products more accessible in Newfoundland and Labrador.
Period Priority Project is a period supply bank for people who menstruate and need menstrual products and relies on the community for donations.
To date, Period Priority Project has distributed 4120 menstrual products since it started in May 2022. Donations are given to women’s shelters, food banks, indigenous organizations, and other initiatives in St. John’s, Nain, Rigolet, Happy Valley-Goose Bay, and the Yukon.
‘A Human Right’
Toory’s goal for The Period Priority Project is to achieve menstrual equity and end the stigma associated with menstruation.
“Menstrual health is a human right, not a privilege or a luxury. We’ve normalized that menstrual products are expensive,” Toory commented.
Toory’s Period Priority Project acknowledges that period supply is a necessity and advocates for accessibility, affordability, and safety of menstrual products.
“People shouldn’t have to choose between food, shelter, and menstrual products,” said Toory.
Period Priority Project advocates for period supply accessibility, believing menstrual products should be free to those needing them.
The project also aims to make a difference with each donation so that one less person has to worry about the accessibility and affordability of the most basic necessity – hygienic period supply.
‘People who mensurate’
Period Priority Project uses the term ‘people who menstruate.’ This is because any person with female reproductive organs at birth may menstruate; this process is not limited to cisgender women and girls.
As a result, Period Priority Project acknowledges that non-binary and Two-Spirit people may also menstruate. Transgender people with female sex organs who were assigned the sex female at birth may also menstruate (Period Priority Project Website).
Toory’s goal is to eliminate period shame, as menstruation is a normal biological function, and encourage conversations about menstruation.
At Memorial University, free menstrual products supplied by the Period Priority Project can be found in the Gender Inclusive Washrooms inside the Arts & Admin Lobby, on the 4th floor of the Core Science Facility, and the QEII Library.
- AA2018A & AA2018B (Arts & Administration Lobby)
- CSF 4200C (Core Science Facility 4th Floor)
- L3020 (QEII Library 3rd Floor)
Donations
Anyone who wishes to donate to Period Priority Project can contact Leisha Toory by email: tooryleisha@gmail.com OR donate products at the St. John’s Farmer’s Market on Wednesdays 5-9 pm, where there is a donation box.
For more information follow @period_priority on Twitter.