Derek Slap

Sen. Slap Lends Support to ‘Period Project’ Initiative by Two High School Seniors

HARTFORD – State Senator Derek Slap (D-West Hartford) today stood with high school students and legislators from both sides of the aisle to support an initiative to ensure that all schools provide adequate hygiene products at no cost to students.

The proposal, dubbed the “Period Project,” has been initiated by Greenwich High Schools seniors Amy Barratt and Charlotte Hallisey (to the right of Sen. Slap in the photo). They launched an online petition seeking 1,600 signatures on a letter asking state legislators to require all 6th-12th grade school restrooms in Connecticut to be “consistently stocked with both pads and tampons at no cost to students.”

An informational meeting on their proposal, hosted by Sens. Alex Bergstein (D-Greenwich) and Mary Abrams (D-Meriden), was held today in the Legislative Office Building in Hartford.

“To me, this initiative is a no-brainer,” said Sen. Slap, who is well-known for testifying on the issue of pay equity with his two young daughters in 2017. “This isn’t a women’s issue – it’s an issue of equality, and it’s something that men should be just as interested in and just as supportive of as Amy and Charlotte are. I want to thank Senators Bergstein and Abrams for making today’s bipartisan event possible and for shepherding this idea forward as we look ahead to the 2020 legislative session.”

Barratt and Hallisey told a panel of legislators and advocates that one in five girls in the United States have left school early, or missed school entirely, due to a lack of menstrual hygiene products.

“Now is the time for Connecticut to help lead the way toward achieving gender equity and pass legislation similar to states including New York, California, Illinois and New Hampshire,” Barratt said.

“This is a very exciting and important opportunity for our state to continue to lead the way in educational excellence, and it will benefit the lives of all young people now and in the future,” Hallisey said. “Please help show our nation that Connecticut recognizes this important truth: gender-based rights are human rights. Together we can help end period poverty and achieve gender equality.”

Their petition can be found at: https://actionnetwork.org/petitions/sign-now-end-period-poverty-36/