Bloody Necessary: Climate Change, Menstruation, and Emergency Planning in Kansas

Abstract

This paper examines an important gendered aspect of disasters: Menstrual Health Management (MHM). Sociology of disasters research tends to overlook the ways in which gender matters when examining the impacts of extreme weather events, rising sea levels, and other natural and human-made disasters such as earthquakes and wars. When disasters lead to displacements, women can be especially vulnerable because of health needs (e.g., pregnancy) or exposure to social hazards (e.g., sexual and domestic violence). Disasters affect the health and well-being of menstruators (women and transgender, intersex, and nonbinary people who menstruate) because of disruptions to sanitation, privacy, and menstrual supplies. Much research on MHM focuses on the global South, but disasters occur everywhere, including in the U.S. where menstruation frequently is overlooked as an important social need. To gain insight into this disregard of menstruators’ needs during disasters, we examined the extent of MHM awareness by emergency planners in the state of Kansas. In 2020, we conducted a survey of emergency managers in all 105 Kansas counties asking about their inclusion of menstrual supplies in their disaster plans. We found that that Kansas is a microcosm of U.S. emergency planning in that a very small proportion of Kansas counties include MHM in their emergency plans. We situate our study of MHM during disasters within the broader U.S. and global menstrual equity and human rights movement. We conclude that changes in policies governing MHM in disasters are needed not only in relatively poor countries, but also in the U.S.