Human Rights

Every Month, Homeless Women Face A Real Barrier — Their Periods

The nonprofit group Camions of Care provides homeless women with feminine hygiene products.

Every Month, Homeless Women Face A Real Barrier — Their Periods
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Every month, homeless women have to worry about getting tampons or pads. And it's really hard to get them.

"A big box of tampons probably runs around $10, so that could be half of what we make during the day," a homeless woman said.

Homeless women often resort to using other things, like socks or paper bags. And women who only get a few tampons could get an infection if they keep one in too long.

But this nonprofit is trying to change that. 

Camions of Care relies on young people in chapters across the U.S. to collect and then donate feminine hygiene products. 

The organization has donated hundreds of thousands of tampons and pads around the world over the past two years.

"People were afraid to talk about periods, even though all women have their periods every month for an average 40 years of their life. And I thought to myself, 'That's f***ing crazy,'" said Nadya Okamoto, the founder of Camions of Care.