Episode 0: I Wanna Be Period Shame-Free
Oct 31st
Key Takeaways:
- 48% of girls aged 14-19 are embarrassed about their periods.
- 1 in 7 girls admitted that they didn’t know what was happening when they started their periods.
- 26% reported that they didn’t know what to do when they started their period.
- Larissa spoke openly about her struggle to purchase sanitary products while shopping.
The first Wanna Be episode featured the 19-year-old Larissa from Plan International UK’s Youth for Change project. Plan International UK surveyed over 1000 girls aged 14-19 years old and the results were a little surprising. Almost half of girls aged 14-19 are embarrassed about their periods. I could not relate to this experience, but it was revelatory to hear that Larissa and many like her will avoid purchasing sanitary products when they need them out of fear and shame.
We take an in-depth look at how we both handled that pivotal moment in our lives, the first person we told and how they reacted. The conversation becomes political as we tackle how prohibitively expensive sanitary products are for women. Girls in impoverished homes, homeless women and other vulnerable women often get overlooked and forgotten, because we (as a society) are not talking about periods openly.
#WeAllBleed so I’ve compiled a quick list of places that we can support women who don’t have access to sanitary products:
The Homeless Period
The Pink Parcel
Proud Pads
Flow Aid
Bloody Good Period
The Statistics
- Only one in five (22%) girls feel comfortable discussing their period with their teacher.
- Less than a quarter (24%) of girls feel comfortable discussing their period with their male friends.
- Under a third (29%) of girls feel comfortable discussing their period with their fathers.
- Four fifths (82 per cent) of girls admitted they have hidden or concealed their sanitary products.
- Almost three quarters (71%) of girls admitted that they have felt embarrassed buying sanitary products.