Scottish Government : Let's Call Periods, Periods by Union

The Union has created a campaign for the Scottish Government to challenge the stigma around periods and encourage greater openness and honesty.

The integrated campaign is aimed at 16-24 year olds. The ‘Let’s Call Periods, Periods’ advertising shows how, as a society, we use all kinds of different expressions to avoid using the word ‘periods’, which is, after all, a natural bodily function experienced by more than 50% of the population.

Research shows that more than a third of women in the UK have experienced period shaming through bullying, isolation or ‘time of the month’ jokes. Nearly half of UK women said they felt embarrassed the first time they got their period. Over half said they hide period products when carrying them to the toilet so as not to embarrass others, and 43% said they did this because they thought people would embarrass them or make jokes.

Stigma can lead some people to feel too embarrassed to talk about periods, which can cause them to miss school, college, university or work. By starting an open conversation around periods, the campaign seeks to make everyone feel more comfortable talking about periods.