Ahead of Menstrual Hygiene Day this Friday, Yoppie, the pioneers of personalised period care, have joined the fight against period anxiety with a campaign to provide free period care.
Period planning causes social anxiety for one in three women
There are many stresses that come with planning a day or evening out, from choosing a location to which outfit looks best, but for a lot of women planning around their period brings an additional level of anxiety.
In fact, one in three women (27%) admitted to getting anxiety when it comes to planning their social life while on their period.
What are the causes?
The survey by Yoppie also looked at which aspects contribute to this anxiety and top of the list was the fear of leaking whilst out and about.
There is nothing worse than the paranoia of the dreaded red stain on your dress or trousers. What’s worse, is being in this situation and not having access to a toilet or private space where you can sort yourself out.
Unsurprisingly, a lack of toilets or other facilities for self-care was also a big cause of social anxiety. Having enough period care products or access to more while out and about also ranked as a concern.
Lockdown loo restrictions have made things worse
As we’ve edged out of lockdown, varying levels of restrictions have also meant a reduced level of access to facilities. A huge 73% of women stated that lockdown had made it even harder to plan a day out due to the reduced access to toilets, with even a walk or exercise in the park proving problematic due to public toilet closures.
However, previous research by the BBC shows that while the pandemic may have exacerbated this issue, it hasn’t been the root cause as the number of public facilities has been declining for quite some time.
Between 2010 and 2018 access to public toilets across the UK’s major cities has reduced by an average of 27% to just 644 in total. Although it may not seem like a huge number, that’s more than 200 less accessible facilities across just 23 cities. However, with the help of Lockdown Loos, Yoppie estimates that the pandemic has caused this figure to drop even further, with less than 500 facilities now available.
Yoppie’s campaign for free period care
So while restrictions have started to lift, periods remain in lockdown and while Yoppie can’t address the sharp decline in public toilet availability, their eye-opening research has caused them to join the fight against period anxiety.
Every Yoppie subscriber can give their loved ones £30 credit via their unique code, and for each friend that subscribes, they get £20 back! Doing so will provide users with free Yoppie product for months, and if they continue to share, possibly years!
By starting the code sharing chain, Yoppie aims to provide hundreds of women in the UK with free period care. So to get the chain started, they are offering new subscribers £30 off their first box.
All you have to do is use the code BETHECHANGE at checkout, and then ensure to share your code to start the movement.
Find out more at http://yoppie.com/menstrualhygieneday
*Limited time offer from 28th May to 28th June 2021
Founder of Yoppie, Daniella Peri, commented:
“Menstrual Hygiene Day is all about advocating for access to period care and safe and clean bathrooms for women on their period. An issue that has become increasingly prominent as a result of the pandemic, with widespread restrictions and facility closures making it incredibly difficult to plan ahead when on your period.
However, it’s not an issue that has come about purely because of the pandemic and, in fact, the closure of public toilet facilities, in particular, has been making it harder for women all over the UK for quite some time.
This issue goes far beyond the actual access to toilets and for many women, planning a trip out while on their period can be a considerable source of anxiety. It seems incredibly unfair that an area of life that should bring feelings of happiness is hindered due to something as natural as a period, especially when we’ve had this area of life stripped from us for so long.
That’s why we wanted to help and although we can’t directly address the lack of facilities, we wanted to make sure women across the nation were well armed with free period care products to help reduce anxiety when planning around their period.”
