MISSION
Free Periods is a not for profit organisation fighting to ensure that no young person has to miss out on their education because they menstruate.
Since we started Free Periods in April 2017, we have fought determinedly for change, ultimately launching a joint legal campaign with the Red Box Project in early 2019. Together we urged the U.K. Government to comply with its legal obligations to ensure equal access to education for all children, irrespective of their sex.
Just two months after the launch of legal action, the Government committed funding for free period products in schools in England, mirroring similar commitments already made by Scotland and Wales. The Department for Education’s scheme launched in January 2020.
We’re thrilled to have played our part in this policy change, but our work is not yet done!
We are also working to destigmatise menstruate and change the narrative, so we're no longer ashamed and embarrassed of our periods – nor our bodies. The stigmatised nature of the menstrual cycle and the marginalisation of our biological underpinnings means that our needs have been side-lined in schools, at work, in public spaces, and fundamentally, at the policy making table.
What’s the Period Revolution?
We are scrutinising and evaluating the Government scheme, striving to ensure that it is fully funded and works for everyone. We are campaigning to ensure that all eligible schools opt into the scheme so that all students have equal access to education. We will not stop until period poverty is eradicated.
We are supporting local activists and supporters in other jurisdictions to secure similar policy commitments from their Governments. Every young person should have access to the period products they need to get on with their education, and their lives.
And we keep working to tackle menstrual stigma. We want to encourage people to talk freely about menstruation, embrace the power of the period, and invite boys, men, and anyone who doesn't experience menstruation to get involved in that conversation as well. We are determined to tackle period poverty, and break the period taboo.
