Saturday 28 May was National Menstrual Hygiene Day. During the whole school assembly before half term, Mr Howe invited Head of PSHEE, Mrs Sarah Krause, and Phoebe Kay, Joint Head of College and a member of the Feminist Society, to talk more about periods and menstrual health.
In introducing them he said "It is a truism that school is about education but sometimes there are certain topics that we do not cover enough and I'm delighted that Mrs Krause and Phoebe are going to speak to us this morning about something we should all be better educated about."
Mrs Krause commenced by saying: "As part of our PSHE program and brought to the forefront by the Fem Soc, we would like to highlight National Menstrual Hygiene Day, which is actually this coming Saturday 28th May. It is to raise awareness and to demystify periods. This is actually about a worldwide society and it's about stigmatization and being excluded and discriminated against simply because women menstruate. And it's not acceptable because of the natural bodily function, women and girls continue to be prevented from getting an education in some parts of the world, earning an income and fully and equally participating in everyday life. This also includes period poverty, something that happens even as close to here, just due to the costs."
Phoebe then shared further information about periods and some of her own experiences: "I just wanted to mention the kind of physical side effects that periods can have because I think many people know about the general ones like headaches and stomach aches but actually there are some side effects that people have never heard of such as PMS or PMDD or dysmenorrhea, which is severe cramping and this is when the body actually produces something called prostaglidin and it's a hormone which creates these really bad cramps and women have actually stated that sometimes it's worse than giving birth which just shows how severe it can be. There's also premenstrual depression. I think people don't necessarily know that periods is a cycle and you can still get side effects throughout that monthly cycle. There can be sadness, emotional instability, trouble sleeping and so I think being aware of those and understanding that it is this constant monthly thing, is really important.
"Some people tend to make comments such as, 'oh is it that time of the month' or 'oh is it shark attack week', that's an awful one, or 'oh you're in a mood is it because it's that time again' and I just think comments like that are just completely awful and really actually patronising and I think they create this unjustifiable kind of almost comedic and disrespectful element around periods, when actually everyone is going to be surrounded day to day by women who have periods or just you know every woman and girl has these every month. I think to be aware of this and to know the physical side effects then people realize how serious and important it is to be educated around periods."
Mrs Krause added: "Of course periods can start from the age of 10 onwards and it is for years and years. So yes it's definitely time for a change and thank you very much for letting us have the time Headmaster."
The Headmaster thanked Mrs Krause and Phoebe and remarked that "when I was at school things like periods, menstruation, they were taboo subjects and they simply were not talked about and it's really good that we're talking openly about these issues because it's a natural part of life and we've got to to treat things naturally.
