Hahn Takes Steps to Improve Access to Menstrual and Hygiene Products in County Jails

LOS ANGELES — The Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors May 5 approved two motions authored by Supervisor Janice Hahn toward ensuring that people incarcerated in county jails have consistent, dignified access to menstrual products and basic hygiene supplies.

The first motion, Ensuring Consistent Access and Availability of Menstrual Products in the Los Angeles County Jails, addresses troubling findings from a report by the Los Angeles County Office of Inspector General, which documented inconsistent access to menstrual products in the Century Regional Detention Facility women’s jail in Supervisor Hahn’s district in Lynwood and inappropriate search practices of women using menstrual cups.

“Access to menstrual products is not optional—it is a basic necessity,” Hahn said. “No one should be put in a position where they are denied menstrual products or subjected to invasive, undignified searches. We must ensure that our jail system respects the dignity of every person.”

The approved motion requests that the Sheriff’s Department:

Ensure menstrual products are consistently available in housing units and resume direct distribution to individuals;

Retrain custody staff on proper search procedures, particularly for individuals using menstrual cups;

Monitor compliance and implement accountability measures for violations.

It also directs oversight bodies—including the Office of Inspector General, the Sheriff Civilian Oversight Commission, and the Sybil Brand Commission—to continue monitoring access to menstrual products and ensure searches are conducted in accordance with policy and law.

The second motion, Health and Dignity: Providing Hygiene Kits to Incarcerated People in Los Angeles County, requests that the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department provide a report back on the cost of ensuring that it is able to maintain adequate supplies of hygiene kits and provide them free of charge to all incarcerated individuals. The motion is a response to longstanding concerns that people in LA County jails—an estimated 80 to 90 percent of whom are low-income— often must purchase basic hygiene products like shampoo, deodorant and a razor, because free hygiene kits are small and not provided consistently.

“No one should have to pay for basic hygiene while in our custody,” said Supervisor Hahn. “If someone is in the care of Los Angeles County, we have a responsibility to meet their most basic needs. This is about health and dignity.”

The motion also builds on the board’s prior action to address inequities in commissary pricing and aims to reduce the financial burden placed on incarcerated people and their families.  

The approved motion also recommends that funding for the hygiene kits come from AB 109 state funds made available to law enforcement each year through the 2011 California Public Safety Realignment Act and other funding sources.