Women can’t afford period products. Talking about it is key to fixing this shame

‘Anywhere there’s poverty, there’s period poverty.’ Photograph: Loïc Venance/AFP/Getty Images

Lynette Medley wasn’t usually shocked when a client divulged they’d done something illegal. As a sexual health therapist in Philadelphia, she focused on supporting vulnerable low-income people who engaged in risky and even criminal behavior. But she was appalled – and flooded with memories – when a young woman confided that she worked as a sex worker so she could afford to buy basic hygiene products, including tampons.

“How is this still happening?” Medley thought to herself. “I had to go through this pain. My daughter had to go through this pain – and nothing seems to have changed.”