Clark to Take Part in Discussion Panel with CALS, Arkansas Women’s Outreach

Second-year student Katie Clark (Flint, Mich.) will participate in a discussion panel with the Central Arkansas Library System and Arkansas Women’s Outreach on Monday, October 7 at Ron Robinson Theater.

Clark will be joined on the panel by Arkansas Women’s Outreach executive director Pam DeGravelles, a nursing professor (Ph.D. and RN) at the University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences.

In addition to the panel discussion that focuses on period poverty, the program will include a free screening of the documentary “Period: End of Sentence,” winner of the 2019 Academy Award for Best Documentary (Short Subject). Doors open at 6 p.m. and the documentary screening begins at 7. Directed by Rayka Zehtabchi, the documentary profiles women in an Indian village who band together to manufacture affordable menstrual pads.

Clark recently joined the Board of Directors for Arkansas Women’s Outreach, an organization that aims to promote the wellbeing of local homeless women by increasing access to adequate hygiene products, providing comprehensive sex education programs, promoting a safe space for women to feel supported, and offering access to preventive health services.

Arkansas Women’s Outreach has attracted community support and external grants with its mission to supply basic hygiene items to local homeless women.

Clark, who is pursuing a concurrent Master of Public Health through the University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences, started the Arkansas chapter of “PERIOD: The Menstrual Movement, a global nonprofit fighting to end period poverty and stigma through service, education, and advocacy.

“I read a book, ‘Period Power: A Manifesto for the Menstrual Movement,’ last year by Nadya Okamoto and immediately knew I had to do something,” Clark said. “I reached out to all of the public middle and high schools in Little Rock and North Little Rock last fall and found out that period poverty is an issue here and not just in countries like India and Ghana.”

“Being at the Clinton School and at UAMS has allowed me to connect with other passionate people in Arkansas who care about women’s issues and women’s health and has allowed me to have a wider impact,” Clark said.

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