Tackling period stigma and promoting period dignity through schools

We aim to change attitudes to periods through education and want all young people, boys as well as girls, to understand menstrual health.

In 2019 when Period Friendly Places was founded, we commissioned local menstrual health experts Real Period Project, and anti-plastic campaigners, City to Sea to develop an education package, free for all schools in the city to access. It was designed to be part of the national rollout of Personal, Social, Health and Economic (PSHE) education as a curriculum subject in 2020. The education programme addresses various aspects of period dignity and menstrual health. Through this work, we also wanted to raise awareness of sustainable product choices and educate school leaders around toilet policies, access to products and ensuring that teaching staff are sensitive to the needs of young people.

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To ensure young people’s voices were involved at the education programme, a video was created by Bristol based production company Plimsoll Productions, which featured Youth Councillors discussing their experiences and views on period stigma. The following video was shared on social media to encourage young people to fill out a survey, the results of which were incorporated into the education package.