On January 20, from 6:00–7:30pm in HUB Room 334, students will gather to celebrate the launch of the Pregnancy Test Access Project (PTAP), a new campus initiative that provides free pregnancy tests to UW students in accessible and private locations. One of those locations is the GWSS Advising Office (Padelford B110K), where tests will be available Monday through Thursday, 9:00-3:30.
PTAP is the result of multi-year, student-led coalition building and reflects the kind of feminist praxis central to Gender, Women, and Sexuality Studies: translating critical analysis of inequality into collective action that addresses material needs on campus. One of the project’s organizers, Ahna Rader, a GWSS major, explains, “This project is committed to bridging financial, geographic, and cultural access barriers for UW students seeking basic reproductive healthcare.”
The project builds on earlier student organizing, including work by GWSS alum Deeya Sharma, now a second-year UW medical student. In 2023, the department covered Sharma’s Campus Care Crate initiative to provide free and accessible pregnancy tests on campus, which laid important groundwork for expanding free and accessible pregnancy testing on campus. PTAP brings together a wide network of student groups and campus partners, including We Care UW; the UW chapter of Generation Action, affiliated with Planned Parenthood; UW’s Student Government, Gender Equity Commission, Office of Student Health Resources, Sexual Assault and Relationship Violence Activists, and the Queer Student Commission. Coordinating this many collaborators is no small feat—and speaks to the strength of student organizing at UW.
The PTAP Launch Party will offer opportunities to learn about the project and its distribution sites, connect with student groups and UW partners working toward reproductive justice and healthcare access, play games, and pick up safe sex resources. All are welcome.
This is one of the many projects exemplifies how GWSS students use organizing, collaboration, and care to reshape campus life in tangible ways!