"For men, by men": Menstrual victimization and the weaponization of period products in carceral settings

The literature on menstruation defines period poverty as the inability to access sufficient period products, education, and sanitary facilities needed to manage menstruation healthily and effectively. While research has identified shortcomings of healthcare in the carceral setting, period poverty behind bars has remained largely absent from criminal legal discourse.

The current study examines the interplay of period poverty and carceral control to introduce the novel concept of menstrual victimization, defined as the physical, emotional, and financial victimization that results from period poverty perpetuated through carceral control.

The study uses qualitative content analysis to systematically gather and code journalistic accounts pertaining to the menstrual experiences of incarcerated and previously incarcerated females, criminal justice practitioners, and journalists. The analysis uses literary pieces (n = 99), which were coded deductively and guided by concepts related to structural violence and radical feminist criminology.

The findings shed light on the unique structural harms incarcerated menstruators face and reveal the dearth of needed empirical research on period poverty in carceral spaces. The narratives in the sample revealed how manufactured scarcity of period products within carceral spaces is used as a means of oppression by institutional agents. The emergent themes highlight how the intersection of period poverty and carceral control led to menstrual victimization characterized through shame, humiliation, control, and coercion.

Potential outcomes associated with understanding menstrual victimization in the carceral setting are discussed, including reducing menstrual stigma, disseminating health education, minimizing health disparities, and ultimately, shifting modes of holding accountability away from oppressive, retributive, and controlling tactics.