A Researcher for Change: How Dr. Jhumka Gupta’s Gender-Based Violence Studies are Changing the Nation
By Casey Bacot for COMM-425 at American University
It is a universal truth that humans need food, water, and shelter to survive. To Dr. Jhumka Gupta, accessible menstrual products should be added to that list.
Gupta is a social epidemiologist and researcher at George Mason’s College of Public Health. While her research career has spanned various subjects, such as human trafficking and refugee health, her primary focus is on the mental and reproductive health implications of gender-based violence.
In 2021, Gupta published her most recent study, “Period poverty and mental health implications among college-aged women in the United States.” This study discussed the effects of period poverty on college student's mental health.
According to Gupta, period poverty is “a lack of access to menstrual hygiene products and other unmet menstrual health needs.”
While Dr. Gupta is primarily based in the DMV area, her work has gained traction across the entire US.
“From what I've gathered from other advocates, having a study that was published serves to help with advocacy efforts,” she said. “Legislation has already passed in California and DC with an intention toward health equity.” Because of her study, California passed the Menstrual Equity for All Act of 2021 which requires “all public schools serving students in grades 6 to 12, Community Colleges, & California State Universities (CSU’s) to stock restrooms with an adequate supply of free menstrual products.”
“I think that this study really helped further emphasize the importance of addressing inequity, in any type of effort to address period poverty,” she said when asked why she conducted this study.
Gupta’s studies wouldn’t be possible without the assistance of fellow researchers like Dr. Lauren Cardoso. Gupta and Cardoso worked together for six years at George Mason University. They met in 2012 when Cardoso was applying to doctoral programs and wanted to work under the mentorship of Gupta, who was a professor at Yale at the time. Although Cardoso attended the University of Pennsylvania for her PhD, Gupta ensured that the two would still work together.
“I was really, really lucky to work with Jhumka because she is so smart, was such a good mentor and so collaborative,” Cardoso said when asked about her experience with Gupta. “She's the type of person you want to work with and who teaches you a lot and allows you the space to grow. She's just a really good mentor.”
Cardoso also explained that Gupta is researching topics that are often overlooked such as endometriosis which affects one in every 10 women.
“She has done some really important work and brought some important attention to issues like gender-based violence and period poverty. Now she spends a lot of time working on endometriosis which gets very little airtime,” she said.
Both Gupta and Cardosa were surprised by the amount of positive feedback their period poverty study gained.
“We've done so much work together over the years and the period priority paper was the one that got the most attention,” she said. “Not just from news media but also from students. I've also had a lot of students reach out to me to ask me about the paper and to try to implement it on their campuses.”
High school and college students around the US are learning about the issue of period poverty through the organization Days for Girls. Days for Girls is an international nonprofit organization created in 2008 to combat period poverty around the world through health education and supply donations. There are currently 12 chapters in the DMV area as well as one club at American University.
Anna Schnorr is the vice president of the Days for Girls club at American University. While the international parent organization focuses on mental health and period poverty, mostly in developing and third-world countries, AU’s chapter has pivoted more towards the DC community and the AU community according to Schnorr.
“Last year, we did a period product drive and we sent all the products to DC women's shelters, so we definitely take a more DC community approach rather than the international one,” said Schnorr.
Schnorr added that scholarly research such as Gupta’s helps educate the students in her club and assist in their outreach efforts.
“When we decide what organization we want to work with, fundraising-wise, we do look at studies put out by professors like Dr. Gupta that would point towards the most vulnerable communities in regards to period poverty,” she said. “It's studies like that, that also help us with our education approach towards our club as well.”
Studies like Gupta’s are also influencing the organization as a whole.
“Our international organization is focused on period poverty, but they have in the past couple of years branched out to include fundraising initiatives to help prevent violence against women and gender-based violence, which I know that Professor Gupta's focusing on as well,” Schnorr said.
Two things being focused on that may have not been a priority for Days for Girls in the beginning, gender-based violence and violence against women, is telling that people do want to focus on it and do want more studies to be conducted she said.
This study is not the end of Gupta’s research into women’s issues. She has several ongoing projects focusing on reducing the stigma and improving social support for adolescents with endometriosis, the economic and social empowerment approaches to prevent intimate partner violence against forcibly displaced populations, and continuing research to measure period poverty.
