Pads don’t change stigma, people do! Menstrual health at the Women Deliver Conference

In April, the 2026 Women Deliver Conference was hosted in Narrm (Melbourne) on the unceded lands of the Wurundjeri Woi Wurrung people of the Kulin Nation. The conference involved over 6,000 people from over 180 countries, making it the world’s largest convening on gender equality. MeJARa team members, Dr Rebecca Evans and PhD Researcher Josephine McAllister, joined the conference in person which offered a valuable opportunity to connect with menstrual health and hygiene researchers, practitioners and advocates, and share insights from our work on menstrual justice in Nepal and Guatemala.

There were several dedicated conference sessions and talks on menstrual health and hygiene with an encouraging number of engaged and committed attendees. In a lightning talk titled ‘Beyond pads: Tackling menstrual stigma and shifting social norms’, Josephine and a panel of speakers addressed the importance of a supportive social environment as a key component of menstrual health, alongside access to information and education; access to products, facilities and services; care for discomforts and disorders; freedom from discrimination and the ability to participate (Hennegan et al., 2021). The talk was hosted by WASH United (the team behind Menstrual Hygiene Day) and highlighted how the distribution of free period products – a common intervention – does not remove menstrual stigma nor address harmful social norms that can negatively impact menstrual health.

During the talk, Josephine shared findings from a qualitative assessment of Nepal’s Free Sanitary Pad Distribution Program that aims to reduce school absenteeism. She explained how this policy has been introduced into an environment where menstruation is stigmatised and menstrual restrictions are prevalent. The effectiveness of the policy has been limited due to the absence of clear pad procurement, distribution and disposal guidelines. In some contexts, girls can access pads freely but in others they must ask their teachers for them, and shame, stigma and social norms act as barriers to access. Josephine also highlighted how her PhD research applies a social norms lens to explore menstrual health in Nepal, advancing our understanding of the causes and consequences of menstrual restrictions.   

During the session, Dr Dani Barrington, Senior Lecturer at the University of Western Australia, shared findings from her work in South Africa where women disposing of menstrual products are often yelled at by passing men and boys. She also talked about work with fathers in Australia that aims to improve adolescent menstrual experiences by providing fathers with tools to support the needs of their daughters and young people. Alexandra Head, Senior Research Officer, and Ana Orozco, Research Assistant and PhD Candidate, from the Burnet Institute also participated in the talk. They discussed their research on the experiences and needs of disadvantages groups accessing menstrual health support in the state of Victoria, Australia, where free period products have recently been introduced in public spaces. Like in Nepal, they found that shame and stigma act as a barrier to accessing these free products. Their research highlighted the need for such schemes to be clear and inclusive in how they are communicated while offering a diverse range of products and delivery methods to ensure that all menstruators are supported. The session concluded with Dani sharing her experience of online menstrual stigma that led to a movement that seeks to normalise menstruation in public discourse: Bloody Snatch Water. The session was an important opportunity to remind conference attendees that pads don’t challenge stigma, people do. Menstrual education must be embedded in policies and programmes, social norms and stigma must be tackled, and menstrual health ‘solutions’ must be co-designed with the people they intend to serve.

Josephine said: