DIGNITY is something residents in the Ulladulla area are being asked to share.
Subscribe now for unlimited access.
$0/
(min cost $0)
or signup to continue reading
Share the Dignity, along with its collection program, is launching its biggest campaign to date, Period Pride, to remove the shame clouding periods, spark discussion and gain insight into the issue of period poverty.
Susan Blood and Kris Rollag are local volunteers with Share the Dignity and will be helping to collect and distribute the donations in Ulladulla.
"Our Dignity Drives are so important to support those experiencing period poverty. We rely on these donations to give those in need access to period products, so they don't go without," Susan and Kris say.
"We hear from so many who experience period poverty telling us that pads and tampons are often the first thing to be taken off their shopping list when they are struggling financially."
Supporters of Share the Dignity can drop off donations at all local Woolworths stores and a number of nominated businesses nationwide.
In the Ulladulla area, those additional businesses include Capital Chemist, Terry White Chemist in Milton and Mollymook Pharmacy and Newsagent.
Volunteers across the country will then collect the items and give them to local charities to support those in need.
Share the Dignity believes that those in need have the right to use the products they are most comfortable in using.
All approved period products are accepted, such as pads, tampons, menstrual cups, period underwear and reusable pads as well as incontinence products.
Share the Dignity requires all period products to be in the original packaging.
The group is also encouraging those who menstruate to complete a bloody good survey.
To make an on the ground difference in ending period poverty, Share the Dignity requires data to prove the social, personal, and financial impacts of menstruation among Australians.
This is a necessary step in a three-pronged approach to ending period poverty:
- distribution of products to those in need
- education around menstruation and
- reducing the shame and stigma surrounding menstruation
Share the Dignity also supports a Dignity Vending Machine here in Ulladulla at the Ulladulla Civic Centre .
The vending machine dispenses a free period pack which has six tampons and two pads in it.
What is a #pinkbox dignity vending machine?
The Dignity Vending Machine is a vending machine that dispenses a free period pack which has six tampons and two pads in it.
The machine is there to help those in need.
Share the Dignity purchases and supplies the specially made by Libra period packs in the vending machine or otherwise known as the #pinkbox.
Share the Dignity is proud to place Dignity Vending Machines in areas where those in need will have access to them.
The group believes that access to sanitary items is a right, not a privilege and that no one should ever have to choose between eating and taking control of their period.
Share the Dignity is passionate about empowering people to live a life of dignity and safety.
To ensure access to pads and tampons to the most vulnerable, the group will continue installing Dignity Vending Machines in public toilets, charities, homeless hubs, domestic violence refuges, community centres, hospitals, Aboriginal health services and low socioeconomic schools across Australia.