Punished for Bleeding: How Periods In Prison Become A Trap

Punished for Bleeding: How Periods In Prison Become A Trap

Analysis shows how prisons punish women and trans people for managing their periods, from contraband write-ups to humiliation and health risks.

Punished for bleeding: How periods in prison become a trap

The tampons were stacked and bound together with a rubber band. The incarcerated people at the Patrick O’Daniel Unit — a women’s prison in Central Texas — referred to these bundles as “dynamite sticks.” Behind bars, these household items could be a liability. People on their periods might beg their peers for tampons or even take them. Correctional officers might write someone up for having more than the 12 tampons permitted per month, which was …