Eiko La Boria, period poverty, and changing the narrative
Tampon display as part of Zoe Van Gelder’s poster. (Photo courtesy of Zoe Van Gelder)
Jersey City- Following the devastating impacts of the recent earthquakes hitting both Syria and Turkey, one woman saw an opportunity to lend a hand in a way that is often overlooked. She did not donate food, clothes, or even money. Instead, Eiko La Boria, founder of The Flow Initiative, donated over 20,000 menstrual products to the people of Turkey and Syria.
While La Boria says she could continue to donate products forever, her incredible feats extend further as she aims to create large-scale change. To set the stage for understanding La Boria’s narrative, it’s important to begin with an understanding of period poverty.
According to the United Nations, period poverty is an economic struggle for many women and girls in low-wealth communities and countries. The World Bank found that at least 500 million women and girls globally lack adequate facilities for menstrual hygiene management. WASH Poverty Diagnostics further outlines the disparities associated with period poverty. For example, 25 percent of women in Nigeria lack the privacy or resources to hygienically manage their periods.
La Boria explained the significance of period poverty in the greater fight for menstrual equity.
“[Menstrual products] should just be as accessible as water is accessible in bathrooms, as accessible in bathrooms as soap, or as accessible as toilet paper,” La Boria says, “It's truly a hygiene issue. And at its most basic, right? If we all have everything we need when we use the bathroom, then why wouldn't you have these products accessible? We need these.”
How Her Work Began
La Boria’s interest in fighting for menstrual equity began when she first read an article discussing womanhood for young girls in West African nations. According to the article, once it was noticed that “blood was dripping down a girl’s leg,” that girl was considered ready for motherhood and marriage. Taken aback, La Boria began to think about the access to menstrual products girls in West Africa would have. From there, she drew parallels to her own community in Jersey City, the town she calls home despite being born in Sentosa, Puerto Rico.
“And so that sort of started me off on the journey, which I started by just speaking to small groups doing small menstrual product drives. It really started with a lot of education because a lot of people in the community were just so unaware,” La Boria said, “But once we got a lot of the education going, everything else sort of started rolling in naturally, between people wanting products and people wanting more education or administration. And that's what's set all this in motion.”
A Prologue to Menstrual Equity Work
Before entering the world of activism, La Boria began honing her ability for storytelling and has always used this ability to connect her work in women’s advocacy. Describing herself as a storyteller, she feels that her job is similar to that of historians–but at a more personal level.
“One of the biggest reasons for having a storyteller is so that people do not forget situations or forget things that have happened,” La Boria said.
La Boria’s first dive into this role as a storyteller began with her self-published book, “The Fame Shame Game” in 2012. Living in Los Angeles at the time, La Boria recounted that, through friends, she was exposed to stories about the darker sides of the entertainment industry for women. She recalls seeing “how people took advantage of them, and the things women would have to do…It really was such an open secret.”
As a storyteller, she felt compelled to tell the stories of the women affected by the dark sides of the entertainment industry. Because her novel came before the rise of the MeToo movement, she was astounded to watch so many women come together in ways she thought weren’t possible before.
“When the MeToo movement happened, I was just like, ‘I never thought I would see the day.’ … Even though I was thoroughly rejected and that I self-published the book, I just knew that one day, the time would come. I didn't think it would be this soon,” she said, “But I wanted to sort of put my stamp and say, ‘I was here, I saw this, I saw this then before anybody was speaking about it.’ And the book was an exercise on that.”
Cover image of Eiko La Boria's debut novel, “The Fame Shame Game.”
Storytelling continues to intersect her efforts in women’s advocacy. Recently, La Boria created a storytelling board alongside the United State of Women that allowed women to share their experiences growing up with a period. People shared stories regarding their experiences menstruating – such as first-time experiences or the trials of puberty while having a period.
Still, La Boria affirms that her endeavors are built upon layers, with storytelling being one of them.
“Collecting products, donating products, finding who needs them, educating people, crafting legislation, all these components make it so layered. But I think it has to be, in order to really be impactful,” La Boria said.
Shaping Impactful Legislation
While donations are always needed, La Boria firmly believes that legislation is the vessel for progress. She and her team at The Flow Initiative launched New Jersey’s first-ever menstrual product pilot program through Jersey City PS #34, which involved menstrual-product dispenser companies donating dispensers to the school. As a result of the pilot program, La Boria uncovered the impacts of period poverty in school–finding devastating trends.
La Boria described some of the numbers she and her researchers found, one of the most glaring numbers being that 28% of the students in the program had missed school because they didn’t have access to menstrual products. 86% reported having menstrual accidents.
“Why is that important? That’s when bullying comes in; that’s when students who don’t understand [menstruation] can weaponize it.” La Boria said, “And if [the student] stays in their clothes, they’ll have to go home. There's no way around it. So students are missing school, they're not getting an education over not having a menstrual product.”
The numbers at PS #34 are representative of the statistics on a larger scale and even more staggering numbers. According to The Pad Project, One in four teenage girls in the United States have missed class because they don’t have access to menstrual products. Absences can lead to a compromised education, missed social opportunities, and bullying. They can also impact schools’ graduation rates, testing rates, and other measurements of providing effective education, further compromising their ability to receive government funding.
The data LaBoria and her team collected at PS #34 was instrumental in lobbying for and advancing Senate Bill S692. Senate Bill S692 has made progress, passing the full Senate in New Jersey, marking the first time any menstrual product bill has passed the full Senate. This bill requires that menstrual products be available, for free, for all public school students. La Boria is also working on six other pieces of legislation, ranging from achieving menstrual product access for homeless people to creating menstrual product access pilot programs across the state and applying federal waivers to SNAP for benefits to encompass menstrual products.
“I could forever do menstrual product drives and make packages and donate to people. I could do that forever. Because, certainly, there will always be a need. I don't want it to be like that forever. And the only way to change that is through the law,” she said.
La Boria’s own story shows her ability to hold the pen and write; with this skill, she has rewritten much of the narrative of period poverty. With the pen in her hand, the story shifts from one of inequity, inequality, and a lack of awareness and becomes one of empowerment, leveling the playing field, and educating everyone.
Eiko La Boria, alongside her organization, The Flow Initiative, is working to advocate and achieve menstrual equity and promote legislation in favor of expanding women and LGBTQ+ access.
