Our approach extends beyond education and the provision of period products to include structural change advocacy. This is why, through our Period Friendly Workplace Initiative, we advocate for organisations to create safe and inclusive environments for menstruating employees and promote menstrual equity at work.

Research-driven…

In 2023, our research found that 79.3% of menstruating employees in Nigerian workplaces have had their periods unexpectedly at work, and 80.4% find it challenging to cope at work due to painful menstruation. 

Yet, 91.7% of organisations lack policies that cater to menstrual wellbeing, 87% do not provide menstrual products in toilets despite making tissue and soap available, and 20.7% do not have safe and conducive toilets in addition to a pervasive culture of stigma, silence and secrecy that shrouds menstruation in the workplace.

This phenomenon has forced women to take actions deleterious to their menstrual health and workforce participation, such as wearing period products longer than recommended, leaving the workplace to go source menstrual products and skipping work during their periods. 

We are disrupting the status quo…

Through Period Friendly Workplace Initiative, we are asking organisations to become period-friendly and advance menstrual equity at work by doing these four things:

• Provide free period products in workplace toilets.
• Ensure toilets are safe and meet the United Nations WASH standards. 
• Create period-friendly policies and flexible working arrangements for menstruating employees, such as the opportunity to work from home or menstrual leave. 
• Constantly organise training on menstrual and reproductive rights that challenge stigma, encourage open conversation about periods and create a conducive environment for menstruating employees to thrive.