85% of UK working women feel stress or anxiety managing their period at work – says poll
Download photosWomen menstruate at work. Period. However, a new WaterAid survey reveals that menstrual taboos still dominate the lives of working women across the UK, with a staggering 85% saying they experience stress or anxiety when managing their periods at work.
To mark Menstrual Hygiene Day on 28 May, the international charity surveyed 2,000 British women and people who menstruate who work onsite - for example in offices, warehouses or shops - and discovered that among those who experience stress or anxiety managing their periods at work:
- Over 2 in 5 (43%) fear leakage through clothes, followed closely by painful periods (42%) and heavy bleeding (40%).
- Nearly 1 in 5 (17%) attribute it to not being able to take time off to deal with any menstrual problems.
- 1 in 10 (10%) cite unsupportive management as a contributing factor to their stress.
Despite being a normal and vital part of most women’s lives, nearly two thirds of respondents (63%) admitted to feeling embarrassed talking about their periods at work with nearly half – 48% - hiding their period products en route to the toilet at work, and 46% saying they have avoided light-coloured work outfits when on their period.
Almost a third (31%) of working women have had to use makeshift materials such as toilet paper or fabric to manage their periods at work.
Only 3% believe employers are doing enough to support women and people who menstruate to manage their periods at work, while 80% feel that they are held back to some extent by attitudes to periods in their workplace. Free period products, flexible working and additional breaks were the top three actions those surveyed felt employers should take to help them manage their periods.
Presenter and broadcaster, Charlene White, says:
“In the working world, it’s almost ingrained within us to ‘hide’ when we’re on our period. Workplaces need to stop pretending that they [periods] don’t happen and embrace them as a normal part of life. Providing free sanitary products would be a great place to start. This should remind us all that millions of women around the world have to manage their period without basic essentials such as clean water and toilet facilities which is why I support the work of WaterAid.”
Netball star and commentator, Ama Agbeze, MBE says:
“As an athlete and commentator I’ve had to think ahead when managing my period. When travelling I’ve had to factor in when and where I’ll be able to change while also worrying if I’ve packed enough sanitary products.
We need to start normalising conversation around periods and provide education for all, not just those who experience periods and that’s why I’m supporting WaterAid to tackle this taboo globally.”
Women’s fitness trainer and founder of Strong Like Mum, Shakira Akabusi, says:
“Perhaps for some women in my generation, some of the struggles around periods at work stem from a time when we felt we had to hide our periods at school and that mindset has transferred to adulthood. This has led to people struggling unnecessarily and feeling shame for something so natural. In countries that WaterAid works in a lack of access to products and decent toilets can even force girls to miss school altogether. That is wrong and needs to change.”
One in five people around the world live without somewhere safe to go to the toilet. For women and girls this can be particularly problematic if they do not have a private toilet where they can manage their periods safely and hygienically, clean water and soap to wash their hands, or access to period products in the first place. It is a crisis that starts in schools. With nearly a third across the world lacking access to decent toilets, girls of menstruating age are often forced to miss school altogether. In South Asia, up to 1 in 3 girls miss school every month during their period, holding back many from reaching their potential.
Globally, women make up 39.5% of the workforce but period problems follow many into their working lives, with women’s health and menstruation often forgotten by businesses. In the apparel sector, where globally women make up 80% of garment workers, target-driven factories often fail to facilitate a working environment in which women feel comfortable to leave their workstations to use facilities, while high staff turnover means that sessions promoting menstrual hygiene and health need to be routine and frequent. In agricultural industries, where women make up a large part of the workforce; covering vast acres of land - and often difficult terrains - access to toilet and hygiene facilities is challenging.
Jalu, a supervisor at the Nagrifarm tea garden of West Bengal’s Darjeeling district, explained that women often suffer with rashes because of wearing the same sanitary pad for long hours. She said:
“One of the most common problems facing women workers in the tea garden is discomfort during their menstrual cycle. I know this first-hand because I had worked as a tea plucker for 13 years. There are times when a woman is not in a position to come back to work after the break because the rash is so bad or the cramps are unbearable.”
WaterAid, with the support of Twinings through their Sourced with Care programme, began offering the tea garden workers menstrual hygiene sessions that included advice and support on managing periods in the workplace, including advice on using cloth pads as a softer, more comfortable and sustainable choice. This training, alongside other water, sanitation and hygiene initiatives that were carried out, has seen cases of period related rashes and itchiness fall.
Having experienced first-hand difficulties managing her periods at work, 57-year-old Augusta, the Principal of the Judy Zinser Memorial School in Liberia is determined to change the situation. She says:
“I have used my role as a principal to erase taboos around menstruation in my school. I have started teaching Menstrual Hygiene Awareness with the help of some of the male teachers too and I called a meeting with the Parent Teacher Association to raise awareness with the parents.”
This Menstrual Hygiene Day, WaterAid is calling for menstrual health to be recognised by governments and businesses globally as critical for gender equality, so no one – wherever they work, attend school or live - is held back because of this natural process. The UK government must also demonstrate its commitment to gender equality globally by 2030, as outlined in its recently launched International Women and Girls Strategy by ensuring that the provision of water, sanitation and hygiene – including menstrual health and hygiene – is front and centre of their policies to strengthen political, economic and social systems. Gender equality simply cannot be achieved without this.
WaterAid is committed to working in schools, workplaces and communities globally to ensure people have practical information on menstrual health and hygiene as well as access to decent toilet facilities and safe, affordable products including guidance on how to make their own reusable materials and how to use period products safely. WaterAid also campaigns on an international scale to break down the stigma surrounding periods and has a commitment in its global strategy to build on its leadership in menstrual health and hygiene by campaigning for inclusion in policies, programmes and related budgets.
Therese Mahon, WaterAid’s Regional Programme Manager for South Asia says:
“It’s time to end the stigma around periods and have open conversations about menstruation. WaterAid is calling on governments to prioritise the needs of women and girls globally; ensuring access to period friendly toilets and clean water – their fundamental human rights – along with menstrual health information and support to manage their periods hygienically and with dignity. Businesses need to be bolder too: taking a critical look at their workplace environments and adapting them to ensure menstruation needs are met. This will not only improve the health, wellbeing and job satisfaction of employees, but is good business sense, helping reduce absenteeism and improve productivity.”
ENDS
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Rosie Stewart, Senior Media Officer, [email protected]; Abigail Smith, Senior Media Officer, [email protected] or Rachel Sewell, Acting Global Head of Media, [email protected].
Or call our after-hours press line on +44 (0)7887 521 552, or email [email protected].
Notes to Editors:
WaterAid is working to make clean water, decent toilets and good hygiene normal for everyone, everywhere within a generation. The international not-for-profit organisation works in 27 countries to change the lives of the poorest and most marginalised people. Since 1981, WaterAid has reached 28 million people with clean water and 29 million people with decent toilets.
For more information, visit our website wateraid.org/uk, follow us on Twitter @WaterAidUK, @WaterAid or @WaterAidPress, or find us on Facebook, LinkedIn or Instagram.
- 771 million people in the world – one in ten – do not have clean water close to home.
- Almost 1.7 billion people in the world – more than one in five – do not have a decent toilet of their own.
- Over 300,000 children under five die every year from diarrhoeal diseases caused by poor water and sanitation. That's more than 800 children a day, or one child every two minutes.
- Investing in safely managed water, sanitation and hygiene services provides up to 21 times more value than it costs.
[1] WHO/UNICEF (2021) Progress on household drinking water, sanitation and hygiene 2000-2020. Joint Monitoring Programme. Geneva: World Health Organisation.
[2] WHO/UNICEF (2021) Progress on household drinking water, sanitation and hygiene 2000-2020. Joint Monitoring Programme. Geneva: World Health Organisation.
[3] WaterAid calculations based on: Prüss-Ustün A, et al. (2019). Burden of Disease from Inadequate Water, Sanitation and Hygiene for Selected Adverse Health Outcomes: An Updated Analysis with a Focus on Low- and Middle-Income Countries. International Journal of Hygiene and Environmental Health. vol 222, no 5, pp 765-777. AND The Institute for Health Metrics and Evaluation (2020) Global Burden of Disease Study 2019. Seattle, WA: University of Washington.
[4] WaterAid. (2021) Mission-critical: Invest in water, sanitation and hygiene for a healthy and green economic recovery.
