UCLA to provide free menstrual products in bathrooms throughout campus
Boxes of tampons sit on a shelf inside a store. UCLA will begin providing complimentary menstrual products in campus bathrooms April 4, ahead of the date set by a new California law. (Daily Bruin file photo)
By Sandra Ocampo
March 19, 2022 3:40 p.m.
This post was updated March 27 at 11:30 p.m.
UCLA will provide free menstrual products in bathrooms across campus, becoming the first University of California campus to do so.
Beginning April 4, university restrooms will be supplied with complimentary menstrual products in an effort to improve the well-being of individuals on campus, according to a campuswide email sent Thursday.
The California Menstrual Equity for All Act of 2021, signed by Gov. Gavin Newsom in October, will require all state public universities to provide free menstrual products in restrooms beginning with the 2022-2023 school year.
[Related: California bill to require public institutions to provide free menstrual products]
The Student Wellness Commission BruiNecessities committee has provided students with free menstrual care products since 2017, the email read. BruiNecessities and UCLA have since worked to expand those efforts campuswide by providing access to complimentary pads and tampons in men’s, women’s and gender-neutral restrooms.
UCLA will supply more than the Menstrual Equity for All Act of 2021’s recommended menstrual products stock of 50%, the email stated.
“UCLA becomes the first institution in the University of California system to provide free menstrual products campuswide, affirming that access to these items is a matter of personal dignity and equity,” the emailed statement read.
