Between Bars and Cycles

The Invisibility of Menstrual Poverty in the Reality of Female Prisons as a Public Health Problem from a Comparative Perspective between Brazil and the United States

Abstract

ABSTRACT: This article aims to promote a critical discussion on menstrual poverty in women's prisons, addressing its conceptualization and direct impact on the health, dignity, and fundamental rights of women deprived of liberty. From an intersectional perspective, the study analyzes how the lack of effective public policies and basic infrastructure exacerbates gender inequalities and perpetuates institutional violence, especially against Black, poor, and socially marginalized women. The research adopts a descriptive methodology with a qualitative focus, through bibliographic and documentary analysis, using data from reports by the National Penitentiary Department (DEPEN), Brazilian legislation, national and international doctrines, as well as studies by organizations such as UNICEF and the UN. The study seeks to understand how menstrual stigma, combined with the punitive logic of the penal system, transforms menstruation into an experience of suffering and institutional abandonment. Furthermore, a comparative analysis will be conducted between Brazil and the United States to identify similarities and differences in the treatment of menstrual dignity in prison, highlighting the social and legal implications of this reality. Based on the central question, which seeks to clarify what barriers impede the realization of the right to menstrual health in women's prisons, it appears that state inaction, the scarcity of hygiene products, and the invisibility of women's needs make menstruation a daily source of humiliation, contributing to the violation of constitutionally guaranteed rights.