Theses Bachelor's

A History of Menstrual Injustice: How Essential Care is Flawed at Best--and Absent at Worst--for Incarcerated People with Periods in the United States

Silverman, Alexa

This research paper lies at the intersection of criminal justice, human rights, public health, and women, gender, and sexuality studies. Written for the 2021 Barnard major track History of the Present, this paper details the contemporary history of American mass incarceration as well as exposes the blatant human rights injustices and health concerns of the experience of carceral menstruation. As women's incarceration, and Black women's incarceration in particular, has increased more than any other demographic in recent years, menstruation behind bars has become a pertinent and absolutely necessary experience to discuss and improve. Abhorrent policies in jails and prisons have forced upon prisoners with periods highly unsanitary and unjust menstruation experiences, an example of the PIC's blatant disregard for bodily autonomy.

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More About This Work

Academic Units
History (Barnard College)
Thesis Advisors
Milanich, Nara B.
Tiersten, Lisa S.
Degree
B.A., Barnard College
Published Here
January 19, 2022