“Menstrual hygiene should be thought of as a right, not a privilege.” Nadya Okamoto is a 19-year-old Harvard student and youth advocate leader for the homeless and has started taking steps to eradicate the need for hygiene products. The PERIOD Menstrual Movement began from humble beginnings; when Okamoto was 15, her family lost their home and had to live with relatives in Oregon. “It was on my two-hour commute to school that I met these homeless women who would tell me about using paper bags, socks, towels, anything absorbent they could find and that can cause serious infections” Okamoto said in an interview Tuesday.
“It wasn’t that we discovered it was a problem, we just gave it a formal space to have a movement.” The movement works by addressing the issue with non-profit organizations and getting people involved through their website by donating products and money.
Getting their start wasn’t easy, it involved asking a lot of questions and finding a team that was social media savvy. The group would discuss the movement with anyone who would listen, including infidelity offices. “We would go to any offices or any amount of people who were coming together. Our passion, drive, youth, energy, will to speak about it, all was a big part of it” said Okamoto. Menstruation appears to be a taboo topic, with few people discussing it, and the chapter is trying to change this. Period’s website’s mission statement elevates the issue to eliminate the taboo through a growing network of high school, college, and community chapters.
The Menstrual Movement has been getting traction on social media and have used that to have a voice. “Food assistance and financial assistance don’t cover period products, so we’ve gotten a lot of hate for that” said Okamoto, as well as speaking out for gender inclusivity. “It’s not only women who menstruate, but anyone who identifies as female.” The post on social media got over 24,000 views with many not in agreement. “PR has been working full time to take down the hurtful and hateful comments. But you get that when you launch new campaigns.” The team acknowledges that having this kind of response means that people are listening.
Okamoto co-founded Period, a Menstrual Movement, with Vincent Forand and it has since taken off. The movement is currently in approximately 25 states and 15 countries with the biggest movements located in San Francisco, Portland, New York and other areas in California. Only last week the Menstrual Movement opened their headquarters and began taking on full time staff. The movement started in 2014 and since then has addressed over 92,000 menstruations and has opened 110 chapters across the country.
