Menstruation is receiving unprecedented attention in mainstream media, social
enterprises, technical innovations, and in the halls of the United Nations. As diverse
stakeholders are beginning to see the importance of menstrual health, we are launching a
new Working Group on Menstrual Health & Gender Justice at the Center for the Study of
Social Difference at Columbia University to join and guide efforts as this movement builds.
The panel will bring together experts on menstrual health – established and emerging
scholars as well as practitioners. While research on menstruation is not new, the current
momentum creates new opportunities.The following questions will guide the panel and
inspire discussion:
How can we capitalize on the sudden intense attention to menstruation?
What opportunities follow from this shift? What are the risks?
How can we enable evidence-based policy-making and avoid rushing decisions?
How can we challenge common misconceptions?
How can we move from moment to movement to ensure that any gains are sustainable and long-term?
Speakers:
Facilitator: Inga Winkler, Director of the Working Group on Menstrual Health & Gender Justice, Lecturer in the Institute for the Study of Human Rights
Nancy Reame, Research Scientist, Irving Institute for Clinical & Translational Research, Mary Dickey Lindsay Professor of Nursing (Emerita), Columbia University Medical Center
Chris Bobel, Associate Professor of Women's, Gender, and Sexuality Studies, University of Massachusetts Boston
Norma Swenson, Founder, Our Bodies, Ourselves
Trisha Maharaj, Graduate Student in Human Rights Studies
Sylvia Wong, United Nations Population Fund
The panel will be followed by a reception.
Video footage of the event can be viewed here.
