Nearly every bathroom on the UTSA main campus has a big silver dispenser labeled “empty.” These dispensers hold no other purpose but to have menstrual hygiene products, yet they always seem to be empty. Within the Main Campus, there are stations that are supposed to have menstrual products; however, the only place that ever seems to have any is the Student Union, and any other location seems to be empty.
In the event that an individual was to start their period and does not have any menstrual products, and these machines are empty, what is there to do?
Even in the Rowdy stores around campus, there is a lack of menstrual products. While there are existing sanitary products in some buildings, they are only present in six out of the 29 buildings at UTSA. No distribution locations are being advertised to the students on the Downtown Campus either.
UTSA has shown an interest for growth when providing menstrual hygiene products to students. A big step towards making these products available to students was when PERIOD and the UTSA Student Government Association partnered to stock restrooms with hygiene products in March. This seemed like a great step towards supplying menstrual products, but when all advertised distribution locations are empty, their effectiveness cannot even be measured.
Menstrual products are expensive; however, one could assume with the high cost of tuition that those funds would go back to the students. UTSA has started to take a step towards more accessible menstrual products, but that step is moving in slow motion. The discussion towards implementing and expanding these programs seems to be dwindling the longer the conversations continue.
