Female Dignity: The Bishop's Stortford cause empowering women – and protecting the planet – by eradicating period poverty at home and overseas

On International Women's Day, Bishop's Stortford resident Amanda Alexander writes about Female Dignity, the community interest company she founded which aims to restore menstrual dignity to homeless and economically challenged women and girls in the UK and overseas by providing free, eco-friendly sanitary products...

Female Dignity came into being when my wedding business closed in 2020 due to Covid. I knew in my heart that it was time to get serious about period poverty, having devoted my life to this cause.

The issue of menstrual poverty was first brought to my attention on a film set in 2015. The disturbing stories of females' plight on a monthly basis greatly affected me as a woman and a mother.

Menstrual poverty is not something that should be tolerated in today’s society, especially when female education and employment opportunities are negatively impacted; for example, the Royal College of Nursing estimates that over 137,000 children in the UK have missed schooldays due to period poverty.

Furthermore, the effect that waste menstrual products made with chemicals and plastics are having on female health and the planet through pollution of the earth is horrific.

In the UK, period poverty manifests itself in a totally different manner. Though sanitary products are readily available, there are pockets of poverty in our country where unaffordability and homelessness mean that girls and women struggle to buy or access these items.

Scotland became the first country in the world to provide free period products to those who cannot afford them. Until July 2024 England is making the same free provision for those in schools and colleges who cannot afford them. This is a good step and goes some way to help resolve the problem of period poverty, but what about the impact on our earth and climate?

Science Direct’s report, dated April 2022, stated that an estimated 15 million people in the UK menstruate over the span of about 37.5 years, using around 3.3 billion units of single-use menstrual management products (i.e. pads and tampons) every year. An estimated 28,114 tonnes of waste are generated annually from menstrual products. Unless this area is managed effectively, only God knows what will become of our landfill sites, the sea and our climate.

In Brazil, an estimated 28% of poor women (from the 60 million who menstruate each month) suffer menstrual poverty, meaning they are unable to afford basic hygiene products.

As for the Caribbean, in Dominica for instance, according to a report, Dominican girls in rural areas missed an average of two to three days of school monthly due to lack of access to menstrual products. A UNICEF report notes that only 56.7% of Dominican girls complete high school.

Female Dignity has garnered community support in Bishop's Stortford.

Its first schools ambassador is Ursula Ida Chinsky, a Year 12 student at Herts and Essex High School, who said: "Female. Dignity. Two words that need to be synonymous.

"I feel empowered to be involved in something so beautiful and yet so crucial. Just because a woman cannot fit into a man's world does not mean she cannot create her own one. We are giving women a fundamental human right. I am intrinsically honoured to be on board such an essential project. To truly make a difference in a matter that has ignited my passion for so long."

Former Herts and Essex High girl Emilia Boylan spent the summer of 2022 with Female Dignity as an intern from Exeter University, where she studies geography, which has sparked a passion for women's rights.

"Interning at Female Dignity was incredible in allowing me to explore how we can improve women's rights and specifically their access to sanitary products," she said. "Being a former Herts and Essex pupil, I had great background knowledge on women's rights issues as we were taught this at school. I'd encourage any pupil who shares a similar interest to volunteer with Female Dignity. It has been invaluable.”

Emilia's mother, Claire Boylan, ran a marathon in aid of Female Dignity. She said: “To be able to run is a privilege for us all. Imagine if you or your sister, daughter, mother, aunt or friend were not able to leave the house, go to school or work because of period poverty. Hopefully by raising awareness we can make a difference, however small."

Like many women, the Covid pandemic left Kim Langstroth feeling isolated from friends and family, most of whom lived far away. "It really highlighted to me that I needed to make more local connections. I felt called to start making more powerful and meaningful female friendships: to find my 'tribe' and build an empowering female community around myself," she said.

"After meeting Amanda at a networking event, where she introduced Female Dignity, and hearing stories from family in South Africa about how stigmatised and limiting menstruation was for women and girls in disadvantaged communities, I wanted to do something to help."

Last August, Kim hosted a pink-themed charity garden party which raised £286.

She said: "We are so fortunate to have education and accessible sanitary products in this country, but so many others do not. And those women deserve our support and resources.”

Entrepreneur Richard Morris, co-founder of Bishop's Stortford-based online shopping portal The Giving Machine, which generates funds for charities, community groups and schools, and the New Life Church are also on board.

And Waitrose has expressed interest in sponsoring the publication Menstrupedia in local primary schools. This educational comic assists parents, guardians and carers to help children understand menstruation and the biological changes that take place during puberty.

In June 2022, I visited my parents’ homeland of St Lucia for the first time in nearly 50 years. It dawned on me that I should set up Female Dignity’s first feminine production facility there, since it is one of the Caribbean islands that has the perfect raw materials – cotton, bamboo and banana – for making eco-friendly sanitary products.

Having received the endorsement of, and support from, St Lucia's government departments and organisations to open its first feminine production facility on the island, Female Dignity will be manufacturing and selling its own brand of 100% natural organic sanitary pads called 'Love’, under the slogan “Love yourself & Earth”. These products will be exported to the UK and Brazil to help with their climate issues.

I know that I have a big national and international job on my hands in creating awareness, providing menstruation education and working towards eliminating period poverty in the UK, Caribbean and Brazil.

Female Dignity is working in alignment with many of the sustainable development goals of the United Nations, one of them being gender equality. Plans to start building Female Dignity St Lucia in July are afoot. I am available to do presentations to schools, community groups, churches and gyms, and I am looking for local school ambassadors and sponsorship.

My plan is to leave a legacy of female empowerment through the suppression of period poverty, to protect the environment and female health by providing eco-friendly, 100% natural biodegradable sanitary products and to ensure that all children grow up to understand that menstruation is not a curse or a stigma but a normal part of a female’s life.

* For more details and to contact Female Dignity, visit www.femaledignity.co.uk or email femaledignity7@gmail.com.