Duke University has tampon dispensers in men’s bathrooms: PHOTOS
Two separate locations on Duke University’s campus have been found to offer women’s menstrual products in men’s bathrooms.
A 2016 student proposal alleged: ‘Because many transgender men menstruate, these products should be available in men’s and gender-inclusive restrooms in addition to women’s restrooms.’
At least two buildings on the campus of Duke University in North Carolina have tampon dispensers in men’s restrooms, as seen from photos obtained by Campus Reform.
The dispensers are found in restrooms in the Bryan Center, which is the school’s performing arts theater, and the Brodhead Center, which is one of the university’s event spaces.
In a “Universal Menstrual Hygiene Product Access” proposal from the 2016 Duke Student Government, students urged that “[m]enstrual hygiene products should be provided for all menstruating individuals in all academic, residential, and student center buildings.”
[RELATED: SGA allocates $15,000 for tampons in men’s restrooms]
The Duke students at the time said that “trans men” (women who believe they are men) can menstruate, writing: “The cost of menstrual products disproportionately affects poor women and trans men.”
“The goal of this project is to have free menstrual hygiene products, specifically pads and tampons, available in all restrooms in all buildings for all menstruating individuals. Because many transgender men menstruate, these products should be available in men’s and gender-inclusive restrooms in addition to women’s restrooms,” the proposal continued.
The 2016 proposal goes on to reveal that the Duke administration “will be rolling out a program in the new [sic] few weeks to permanently have menstrual hygiene products available in the Bryan Center,” and added that “the next steps will be working and lobbying to have these hygiene products expanded to other buildings.”
[RELATED: Students on Tampons In Men’s Restrooms: ‘I Guess They Don’t Think’]
Duke is not the only school that includes tampons in men’s bathrooms.
In 2021, Campus Reform reported that several universities, including Davenport University in Michigan, the School of Medicine at Washington University in St. Louis, and Cornell University, among others, provided tampons and other menstrual products for men’s restrooms.
Cornell labeled the products as “mxnstrual” products to promote “gender neutrality.”
At least one of the schools, Western Carolina University, funded the tampon dispensers partly through student fees.
Campus Reform has contacted Duke University for comment. This article will be updated accordingly.
