Partnering with Ma‘i Movement to End Period Poverty

Let's Work Together to End Period Poverty in Hawai‘i!

Menstruation is an involuntary bodily process experienced by over half the population of Hawai'i, or more than 701,000 people. The vast majority of people impacted by period poverty are women, but menstruation is not the exclusive domain of people who identify as women and girls. Trans men and trans boys, as well as gender non-binary, intersex, and genderqueer people menstruate as well. (Understanding Period Poverty in Hawai'i, Khara Jabola-Carolus and Nikki-Ann Yee, Ma‘i Movement Hawai'i, 2021.)

Period poverty is the limited or inadequate access to menstrual products or menstrual health education as a result of financial constraints, negative socio-cultural stigmas associated with menstruation, or inadequate access to period-friendly sanitation facilities and running water. This year, Ma'i Movement Hawai'i is celebrating its fourth annual Mālama Your Ma‘i campaign, observed in May in recognition of Period Poverty Awareness Week from May 20 to 28, to provide an opportunity to raise awareness about the challenges faced by those experiencing period poverty and to advocate for solutions that ensure equitable access to menstrual products and education for all.

The Hawai'i Conference, in partnership with Ma'i Movement Hawai'i, is coordinating a service project to create menstrual hygiene kits or period packs to address this justice issue, and we hope you will join us! From now until the 'Aha Pae'āina in June, we invite you to collect needed period products and bring them to the 'Aha Pae'āina at Central Union Church from June 13 through 15. During the 'Aha we will assemble the kits, which will be donated to Ma'i Movement Hawai'i, who will distribute them to those in need on all Hawaiian islands. We hope to be able to assemble at least 100 kits. If you are coming from an island other than O'ahu, we encourage you to consider a monetary donation, of which 100% will be used to purchase the supplies for the kits. Of course, all donations are welcome, and if you pack the supplies for the flight over, you will have more room in your suitcase to bring back all that omiyage you buy on O'ahu!

About Our Partner: Ma‘i Movement Hawai‘i

Ma'i Movement Hawai'i is a locally grown grassroots organization committed to ending period poverty in Hawai'i. We believe it is our kuleana, or responsibility, that all individuals of menstruation age have the right to access period products, safe and hygienic places to use them, and the right to manage their bodies without shame or stigma.