28/05/2026
Today is Menstrual Health Day, and I've been left in charge of our social channels which doesn't happen often. Leanne, our social media manager, rarely leaves me unattended with the logins!
I've spent weeks wondering what to post and genuinely struggled. Every day is MHD for us, and no single part of our work feels more important than another just for today.
Then this morning I read The Red Report 2026, beautifully curated by our friends at Irise. It carefully sets out all the reasons we do what we do, both around product delivery and period education.
Living and breathing period inequity every day can leave you a little numb to its impact on communities. But reading this report made me both emotional and a little angry.
When 21% of people struggle to afford period products, we must acknowledge that society is broken.
When 43% of adults don't feel knowledgeable about periods and 43% of Gen Z turn to AI bots for information, our government must recognise that the menstrual health curriculum in our schools is failing.
However and whatever you choose to celebrate this Menstrual Health Day, please know that organisations like All Yours, Irise International, Love Your Period, Cysters and Period Power - to name just a few of the many doing fantastic work - will keep going until people can manage their menstrual health without shame, secrecy or stigma.
If you do one thing today, read The Red Report 2026 by Irise International - Caroline x
In this, the second year of Irise’s Red Report, we lay bare the reality of menstrual shame and stigma in the UK today, exploring how it manifests through discrimination and exclusion. We reveal how menstrual injustice is deeply entwined with wider systems of inequity and boldly confront who, therefore, is most deeply impacted by our collective discomfort.
The findings reveals a stark Menstrual Literacy Gap:
Embarrassment and discrimination remain high, while comfortability and knowledge about periods remain low - fuelling stigma, shame, inequality and risk to mental and physical health.
But the data also shows Knowledge = Power:
Adults that report feeling more knowledgeable are 3x more likely to feel comfortable talking about menstruation in a variety of everyday settings and are twice as likely to feel comfortable buying period products.
Literacy isn’t only about how much you know, it’s about confidence in using what you know, understanding its meaning and applying it in everyday life.
This report is for you, use it to start conversations, strengthen campaigning, shape policy and to move resources towards the communities leading change.
We'll be sharing more from our findings and launching our Mind The Menstrual Literacy Gap campaign later today. Please help us spread it far and wide, we need strength in numbers to get this work seen and to enable the change we need.
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