AMS says ‘violence’ & ‘vandalism’ kept menstrual product dispensers out of men’s washrooms

The University installed free menstrual product dispensers in high-traffic buildings on campus in September—but only in women’s and gender-neutral washrooms.

Last week, the co-chairs of Queen’s Period told The Journal the University decided to exclude men’s washrooms from the initiative because it was concerned about “vandalism” in those spaces.

Regarding the decision about which washrooms received free menstrual products, the University told The Journal the choice was affected by the project’s budget.

“This is an AMS pilot project with a limited number of units funded, which likely drove placement decisions,” the University wrote.

READ MORE: Queen’s to install free menstrual product dispensers next week

While the 2019-20 AMS executive spearheaded the initiative to make pads and tampons more physically accessible in the Queen’s community, the project was funded by Vice-Principal (Finance and Administration) Donna Janiec. 

“Vandalism was not apparently mentioned in any placement decisions,” the University wrote. 

However, when The Journal inquired with the AMS about the decision, the Society cited violence and vandalism as two key factors. 

READ MORE: Queen’s Period collecting menstrual products through contactless product drives

“I believe the decision was made due to avoid any violence or vandalism, but I unfortunately do not have a solid comment to provide you with,” Patrice Oliveira, AMS director of communications, wrote. 

Oliveira attributed the lack of comment to the project having been “seen through to completion with last year's AMS [Executive].”