M-word: challenging common censorship of menstruation
SOLUTION |
We at Be—it Health & Social Impact decided to challenge common censorship on menstruation by educating teens about menstruation and encouraging a tolerant attitude towards it among youngsters. To engage and educate teens about menstruation, we went to the place, where they hang out ― Youtube. There we launched M-Channel with friendly videos explaining menstruation in a simple way. It is not a ‘girls only’ channel, but it suits for all youngsters. As its hosts we invited young opinion leaders: a pop-star, a blogger, and actors of the most popular teen TV show, including a boy host. We filled our M-channel with simple edutainment videos on the use of hygiene products, sport during menstruation, reaction to bullying, boys’ points of view, we also invited a gynecologist and a psychologist to answer the most burning questions of the youngsters. Then, we moved to Instagram with @Menstruationgram, where we published three-six posts every 21 to 35 days, as if an account is a girl having periods. There we discussed hygiene rules, danger symptoms, and shared daily tips in teens’ style with emoji and memes. To make the campaign sustainable, we’ve turned M-channel content in a school lesson. We’ve involved schools into communication and introduced the M-Channel based lesson ‘Those Days are Menstruation’ for boys and girls. Yet, not all schools accepted it at once, since teachers continued to insist that “parents wouldn’t approve it”, “boys shouldn’t know it”, “such a shame to talk about it”. To prepare teachers to talk openly about menstruation with students, we arranged a workshop with a sexual education expert and a gynecologist. |
RESULTS |
Youtube and Instagram: 6 000 000 impressions of the campaign
50 lessons were conducted in 30+ schools We made the campaign’s results sustainable ― currently the lesson plan ‘Those Days are Menstruation’ is pending formal approval from the Ministry of Education of Ukraine. After approval, it will be a part of the regular curriculum. |