As Sheffield celebrates five years of being Period Positive, Sheffield University’s Women Officer dressed as a box of tampons to advocate for free period products for students.
Eloise Taylor, the newly appointed Women student’s officer, spent election week determined to break period taboos and implement a system to supply students with free products.
Sheffield Hallam University has already created a free monthly subscription for their students through donations from alumni, staff and members of the community and Ms Taylor hopes to implement a similar scheme within Sheffield University.
Her elaborate costume sparked conversations about menstruation and taboos surrounding periods.
Ms Taylor said: “I was nervous of painting one of the tampons red, as I didn’t want certain people’s views to cause them to stop speaking to me, but people treated me the same, blood and all!
“I’d say females were particularly supporting and interested in my campaign because of it. The only thing was men tended to mistake the tampon for a steam engine, power plant or even Thomas the Tank Engine.”
In 2023, an Action Aid survey found that 22% of young people who menstruate (aged 18-24) felt anxious, shame and embarrassment.
An organisation, Period Positive which was coined in 2006 by the former head of PSHE in Sheffield, Chella Quint, aims to counteract this by advocating for free, coherent, menstruation education and open conversations about periods.
Dr Malcom Savage, a GP in Sheffield, said: “I know that medical professionals have benefited from her insights and her wisdom on this issue, it can make a great deal of improvement to many lives.”
Several schools across Sheffield have been rewarded with the Period Positive badge as they inspire young people to work together to create peer education resources and talk openly about periods.
Fran Belbin, Deputy Leader of Sheffield City council said: “We are proud to have partnered with Chella Quint and Period Positive and to have supported her in developing a period positive city that connects communities and councils.”
On the back of International Women’s Day, Ms Quint said: “We hope the next five years of a Period Positive Sheffield will support the council to put pressure on the government to allocate funds for comprehensive menstrual literacy education and training for all so that they can have the resources needed.”
As March celebrates Women’s History Month, as well as International Women’s Day, Ms Taylor and Ms Quint continue to advocate for menstrual transparency and confidence.
