At Share the Dignity, we’ve spent a decade tackling period poverty in Australia. In 2024, we conducted the Bloody Big Survey with more than 153,000 responses, it’s the largest body of data on menstruation in the world. What it revealed should stop us all in our tracks: one in five people in Australia have been unable to afford period products.
Now, let me put that into perspective for men because, through no fault of your own, most of you have never had to deal with a monthly period. Imagine your mother, sister, daughter, partner, or friend gets her period unexpectedly. She grabs her handbag and rushes to the bathroom, only to discover there’s no tampon inside. She has two options: wad up some toilet paper and dash to the shops, if she can afford the $7 to buy a box, or, in the worst cases, make do with socks, rags, or using one tampon for far longer than is safe.
The truth is, too many women and girls face the latter. And the mental load of navigating that shame and stress has been compared to having diarrhoea but no toilet paper nearby. Could you imagine?
When I started Share the Dignity 10 years ago, perhaps our biggest mistake was not speaking enough to men. For that, I want to apologise – because period poverty is not just a “women’s issue”. It’s a societal issue. And there isn’t a man I know who would think it’s acceptable for his loved one to have to use socks or newspaper to manage her period.
That’s why we are asking men to step up and become a “Bro in the Know.” Menstrual health education shouldn’t be a mystery. In our survey, we heard that a huge number of women themselves didn’t feel adequately educated about menstruation, so imagine how much lower that number is for men. The good news? We’ve made it easy, with our Education Hub filled with simple, two-minute reads that can help any man become an ally for menstrual equity.
And here’s something practical you can do right now. During August, we’re asking men to brave the period products aisle. Buy a pack of pads or tampons and drop them into the collection boxes at Woolworths supermarkets across Australia for our Dignity Drive. If you can’t get to a store, you can donate online and we’ll buy them for you. Either way, you’ll be the one metaphorically handing a woman or girl a packet of pads when she needs them most.
Because when we know better, we do better. And together, women and men, we can create a future where no one has to go without the dignity of managing their period safely.