Justice High School leads way to free menstrual products for students

FALLS CHURCH, Va. (WDVM) — Fairfax County Public Schools has launched a pilot program to provide free tampons and pads to its students, thanks to a group of young women at Justice High School.

Each girls’ bathroom at Justice is fully stocked with free pads from the nurse’s office and “donations,” like tampons and liners; all made possible by members of Justice’s Girl Up chapter.

Girl Up is a United Nations organization with 58,000 members around the world that educates and pushes for gender equity.

Before the pads were available in the bathrooms, students in need had to disrupt their class time and go to the nurse’s office.

“In Justice High School there are a lot of diverse backgrounds; especially socioeconomic-wise,” said Fariha Tasneem, co-president of Girl Up at Justice. “Not everyone has the means to buy the pads and tampons, so it’s great that we’re providing it to them for free and they won’t have to feel embarrassed or ashamed.”