Women who are incarcerated in Virginia will soon have access to free feminine hygiene products.
According to WTVR, Governor Ralph Northam has signed House Bill 83, which requires jails and prisons to provide inmates with free pads and tampons. The law will take effect on July 1.
This bill, which was introduced by Delegate Kaye Kory of Fairfax, received unanimous approval in the Virginia Senate Rehabilitation and Social Services Committee.
The State Board of Corrections will need to create a policy for correctional facilities regarding these products.
The Virginia Department of Corrections and some local jails had already offered pads to inmates for free, but tampons had to be purchased.
The cost of these products will now be included in the department's budget, estimated to cost More than $33,700 for prisons. The cost for jails must still be determined.
The Capital News Service also reports other pieces of legislation that would have removed the sales tax on feminine hygiene products failed to advance in House of Delegates committees.
LaMalintzin on April 27th, 2018 at 06:59 UTC »
I did 40 days in jail in VA and they did provide pads, but they didn’t necessarily pass them out weekly like they did with toilet paper, soap, and indigent packets. You had to ask for them, and then wait for a CO to be available to bring them to you (or til they felt like doing it, in some cases). And they were kind of stingy with them. A couple of the COs would come around with a box when they got them in and tell us to take up to a certain number if we needed them. They were actually kind of a hot commodity to trade given that you could need them unexpectedly and to order tampons and pads through commissary is pretty pricey.
ultra_amethyst on April 27th, 2018 at 06:10 UTC »
THIS WASN’T ALREADY A THING????
8livesdown on April 27th, 2018 at 04:25 UTC »
As a taxpayer I'm more than happy to chip in a few extra dollars for tampons.
Virginia spends $25,000 per inmate, and 90% of prisoners are men.