Why does in-stall placement matter for free period products?

Because where a product is located determines whether someone can actually access it when they need it.

If someone unexpectedly gets their period while they’re already inside a restroom stall, a dispenser near the sink still requires them to leave the stall, navigate the restroom, retrieve a product, and return.

For some people, that’s inconvenient.

For someone using an accessible stall, with limited mobility, or who has difficulty navigating the restroom, it can create an even bigger barrier.

Putting pads and tampons inside the stall changes that experience.

It means asking:

• Can someone reach a period product without leaving the stall?

• Is the dispenser positioned within an accessible reach range?

• Are products available in accessible stalls too?

• Is access consistent across different restroom types and layouts?

• Can someone get what they need privately, without having to navigate a shared sink area?

  
  

This is why we talk so much about Every Stall Accessibility at UNICORN.

Accessibility isn’t simply having period products somewhere in the restroom.

It’s thinking about whether the person who needs the product can actually reach it, where they need it, when they need it.

If toilet paper belongs in every stall, period products should too.