The Forum

Irise / The Forum

Empower Period

Realising period equality for all

The Forum

The Empower Period Forum is a growing collective of young advocates who are delivering a programme of work focused on realising period equality in line with the government’s original target of ending period poverty and shame in the UK by 2025.

The Work So Far

The Pandemic

Worsening period poverty and shame in the UK bought together the Empower Period Forum to make change on a national scale.

Consultations

Centring the experiences of young people, the Forum captured the diverse menstrual experiences across the UK.

The Pledge for Period Equality

Passionate about ending the cycle of disadvantage, advocates developed a national movement to amplify the voices of those with lived experience to politicians and organisations.

With the onset of the coronavirus pandemic, the Forum members came together to ensure those experiencing period poverty and shame were not left behind. As the pandemic raged on, the network became increasingly frustrated with the lack of national discussion and support for those experiencing period poverty and shame, despite growing evidence that the challenges were getting worse.

Throughout 2020, the Forum members hosted consultations to collect the diverse experiences of young people with periods to enable those with lived experience to lead. Young people across the UK collectively highlighted the cycle of disadvantage faced by those experiencing period poverty and shame: lack of adequate menstrual education resulting in poor access to menstrual health services. Passionate about making change to centre the diverse experiences, the Forum built a campaign that will end this cycle of disadvantage.

Download a summary of our work so far