Menstrual Hygiene Day 2023

Five Reasons why Menstrual Hygiene Day is so important (and how BPP Students’ Association helps its students!)

Menstrual Hygiene Day (MHD) is an annual event that takes place on May 28th to raise awareness about menstrual hygiene management. Menstruation is a natural process that half of the world's population experience, yet it is often shrouded in silence and stigma. MHD seeks to break down these barriers and promote good menstrual hygiene practices.

Here are five reasons why MHD is so important:

1. Promoting menstrual hygiene education: Many people lack access to accurate information about menstruation and menstrual hygiene management. MHD provides an opportunity to educate individuals, communities, and policymakers about menstrual hygiene practices and their impact on health and well-being.
2. Advocating for menstrual equity: Menstrual products can be expensive, and many people cannot afford them. MHD highlights the need for menstrual equity, which means ensuring that everyone has access to affordable, safe, and effective menstrual products.
3. Challenging menstrual stigma: Menstruation is often seen as dirty or shameful, leading to social stigma and discrimination. MHD works to challenge these attitudes and promote acceptance and understanding of menstruation as a natural process.
4. Improving health outcomes: Poor menstrual hygiene practices can lead to a range of health problems, including infections and other complications. MHD encourages the adoption of good menstrual hygiene practices, which can improve health outcomes for individuals and communities.
5. Fostering global solidarity: MHD is a global event that brings together individuals and organisations from around the world to promote menstrual hygiene management. By working together, we can break down barriers and promote positive change for people who menstruate.

Menstrual Hygiene Day is an important event that seeks to promote menstrual hygiene management, challenge menstrual stigma, and advocate for menstrual equity. By raising awareness about these issues, we can work towards a world where everyone has access to safe and effective menstrual products, and menstruation is accepted as a natural and normal process.

Here at BPP Students’ Association we’re fully in support of MHD and currently run our own ‘Period Hygiene Empowerment’ campaign where we offer all BPP students free menstrual products. We have also:

• Set up dispensers offering free menstrual products at our main London centres including London Shepherd’s Bush, London Portsoken and soon to be set up in London Holborn
• If you do not live in London, do not fret as free products are also available to be collected from reception in the Cambridge, Leeds, Bristol and Birmingham campuses
• If you’re not able to collect products from centre, you’re able to contact us to have free products sent to you. You can contact us at RosieFelt@bpp.com or FalakAli@bpp.com for further assistance

Only by working together, can we break down the barriers surrounding menstruation and promote menstrual equity for all.

Further information about this day is available here.

Thank you for reading,

BPP Students’ Association