Bill Text: HI SR23 | 2023 | Regular Session | Amended
Bill Title: Urging The University Of Hawaii System To Provide Menstrual Products, Free Of Charge, To Students At All Of Its University, Community College, And Education Center Campuses As Part Of A Public Health And Education Equity Strategy That Addresses Economic Disparities.
Spectrum: Moderate Partisan Bill (Democrat 6-1)
Status: (Passed) 2023-05-22 - Certified copies of resolutions sent. [SR23 Detail]
Download: Hawaii-2023-SR23-Amended.html
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THE SENATE |
S.R. NO. |
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THIRTY-SECOND LEGISLATURE, 2023 |
S.D. 1 |
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STATE OF HAWAII |
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SENATE RESOLUTION
Urging the University of Hawaii System to provide menstrual products, free of charge, to students at all of its university, community college, and education center campuses AS PART OF A PUBLIC HEALTH AND EDUCATION EQUITY STRATEGY THAT ADDRESSES ECONOMIC DISPARITIES.
WHEREAS, the University of Hawaii is statutorily prohibited from depriving the privileges of the University to a person on the basis of sex; and
WHEREAS, menstruating students unable to access menstrual products face a significant barrier to education that biologically male students do not, as a lack of access to menstrual products can limit full educational participation and negatively impact a student's access to learning; and
WHEREAS, "period poverty", or the inability to access menstrual products, disproportionately affects menstruating students, members of low-income households, individuals who identify as nonbinary or transgender, and many other groups of individuals; and
WHEREAS, chronic absenteeism is one of the most powerful indicators of student success or failure; and
WHEREAS, the University of Hawaii should uphold educational and gender equity by providing free menstrual products to all persons utilizing University restrooms; and
WHEREAS, beginning in the fall semester of 2018, the Alpha Kappa Psi chapter of the Phi Theta Kappa Honor Society at Kapiolani Community College, of their own volition, used chapter dues, University of Hawaii Women's Campus Club grant funds, and Kapiolani Community College Student Congress grant monies to successfully implement a pilot program that provides menstrual products, free of charge, in Kapiolani Community College restrooms; and
WHEREAS, the University of Hawaii at Hilo, of its own volition, also implemented a program that provides menstrual products, free of charge, in campus restrooms and, based on this program, has estimated the cost of continued distribution of these products; now, therefore,
BE IT RESOLVED by the Senate of the Thirty-second Legislature of the State of Hawaii, Regular Session of 2023, that the University of Hawaii System is urged to provide menstrual products, free of charge, to students at all of its university, community college, and education center campuses as part of a public health and education equity strategy that addresses economic disparities; and
BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that, beginning in the fall semester of 2023, each University of Hawaii System chancellor is requested to consult with the student council of the chancellor's respective campus to determine the type and amount of menstrual products to be provided at the campus; and
BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that the University of Hawaii System is requested to submit a report to the Legislature no later than twenty days prior to the convening of the Regular Session of 2024 on the status of providing menstrual products, free of charge, to all of the System's university, community college, and education center campuses; and
BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that certified copies of this Resolution be transmitted to the Chair of the Board of Regents of the University of Hawaii System, President of the University of Hawaii System, each University of Hawaii System chancellor, and the Executive Director of Equity Assurance of the University of Hawaii System.
University of Hawaii; Menstrual Inequity; Menstrual Products
