Around 26% of the global population are of reproductive age and more than 800 million people menstruate daily (UNICEF & Global Citizen). Women & menstruators around the world are facing significant barriers, disempowerment and shame and it’s holding us all back. So, it’s time to #FreetheFlow.
This campaign aims to inspire students to take local action for global change, ensuring that women & menstruators around the world are empowered rather than burdened every time their period comes around.
The #FreetheFlow campaign introduces us to the barriers to menstruation justice and explore the ways we can break them down. Join us and download the action pack! We’ll provide you with a list of ways to be a period activist, a flow fighter, a bloody revolutionary!
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#FreeTheFlow Playback
Ditch the Disposables! Sustainability Workshop
#FreetheFlow Panel Discussion
Read up on all our STAND News articles covering topics from period poverty to stigma, share the stories, and spread the word.
MENSTRUATION FACTS
Menstruation
Around 26% of the global population are of reproductive age and more than 800 million people menstruate daily (UNICEF & Global Citizen). Women & menstruators around the world are facing significant barriers, disempowerment and shame and it’s holding us all back.
Period Costs
Overall annual costs of period products per woman in Ireland are estimated at €96.72. With the inclusion of pain relief, this can be estimated at a minimum of €121 per annum. (Department of Children, Equality, Disability, Integration and Youth).
Period Poverty
National data suggested that approximately 53,000 - 85,000 women and girls in Ireland may be at risk of period poverty. And globally, 12.8% of people with periods live in poverty and struggle to access the resources to manage their periods (UN Women & Department of Children, Equality, Disability, Integration and Youth).
Sustainable Periods
Tampons, pads and panty liners along with their packaging and individual wrapping generate more than 200,000 tonnes of global plastic waste per year and the average person who menstruates throws away up to 200 kg of menstrual products in their lifetime. (Friends of the Earth).
From material problems like a potential lack of access to sanitation supplies to social biases that characterise menstruation as ‘unhygienic or ‘unclean’, period stigma ultimately results in a lower quality of life for those who are faced with it. Stigma leads to misinformation, myths and mistreatment and it keeps women & girls around the world from accessing basic human rights (UN Women).
Period Inclusivity
Using inclusive language is crucial to actively prevent any further exclusion of vulnerable populations. Gender is a social construct and is not inherently linked to biological sex. This means that not all women menstruate and you don't have to identify as a woman to be a menstruator.
Period Stigma
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