Menstruation in Education

Menstruation in Education is a new project developed by Charlie Roberts, one of Irise's Empower Period Committee members, during her time in the Menstrualeaders course. Thus far, the project has involved delivering an online presentation based on the difficulties faced surrounding menstruating in UK schools, the reasons why these issues arise and practical solutions to tackle them. 

Charlie has been working in menstrual activism since 2022 when she took on The Period Vampires. The Period Vampires is a group of theatrical activists who travel round UK festivals and events to give out free period products, pain relief and education from their venue ‘The Womb Tomb’. The Vampires use humour to break stigma and help people to feel comfortable to talk about menstruation, no matter what age, gender or stage in their cycle. They use games, rituals and jokes to engage people and help them feel that they can access support, making their festival experience more comfortable. The Period Vampires works in partnership with some brilliant organisations such as Days for Girls, Hey Girls, Red pages book club, pads on a roll, bloody good period and, of course, Irise. 

Since then Charlie has started working on the Empower Period Committee with Irise International, who have helped to project her voice and support her projects. She finds working with the EPC motivating as it’s given her the chance to network with like-minded individuals, host many positive opportunities and helped to build confidence in her work. 

In October 2025 she completed the Menstrualeaders course which helped her to develop better educating skills for her Menstruation in Education project and to utilize these skills with the Vampires. She has gained more insight into cultural differences in menstruation and some good methods of working with these differences. Inspired by her own menstrual problems, issues with the healthcare system and major surgery, she aims to make people feel more comfortable to talk about their periods so they don’t feel alone. Making it the norm to talk with others about your period has so many positives, for example, highlighting when there is an issue and action needs to be taken, such as talking to a GP. She felt ashamed of her periods for years and avoided speaking about the issues she was facing with them until it became a threatening problem. 

The first Menstruation in Education session was a hit, with brilliant feedback. There was a large range of people in attendance, from young boys and girls to CEOs and founders of major charities and companies from around the world. It was fantastic to see everyone so engaged with the topic during and after the session. Going forward, Charlie will be taking this project into schools, colleges, universities and workspaces across the UK and adapting it to fit online sessions across the globe. The aim is to engage young people in menstrual activism and make education a more period friendly space. She creates a safe environment to ask and answer questions and encourages students to think about what menstrual activism looks like to them and how to implement it in their lives, no matter how big or small the gesture. 

Below you can watch the recording from the first session:

https://drive.google.com/file/u/1/d/1KA6kUC0eh3LABgXhpy7X47HEm8jtfPTq/view?usp=sharing

Please get in contact with Charlie at thewombtomb@gmail.com if you would like to bring this session into your own educational/work space.