How TikTok Is Helping Combat Period Poverty

Just a couple of months into the coronavirus pandemic, two college best friends from Illinois came together on a venture to collect and donate bras and tampons to women who need them. With the power of the popular video social media platform TikTok, they’ve managed to expand their venture from a pandemic project to a non-profit with volunteers across the country that are working to combat period poverty.

Period poverty is a public health crisis that affects low-income women across the country, and a recent study from 2019 found that nearly two-thirds of the women surveyed struggled to afford period products. The 21st spoke to both of them to hear more about about their efforts to combat period poverty.

@her.drive

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Guests:

Alexa Mohsenzadeh, Co-Founder of Her Drive, a Chicago-based organization that’s using TikTok to combat period poverty 

Professor Anne Serbert, Associate Professor of Behavioral Science and Health Education at the College for Public Health and Social Justice at St. Louis University and author of a study called Unmet Menstrual Hygiene Needs Among Low-Income Women 

State Rep. Barbara Hernandez (D) 83rd District

Prepared for web by Zainab Qureshi

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