Periods Politicised Yet Stigmatised
Freda: more than just a new brand of organic and eco-friendly period care
Every day, around 800 million women have their period, yet it’s often considered an embarrassing, taboo subject. Around the world, women have been isolated from their communities because of their periods, young girls have been forced to miss school, and even today, periods are liberally used as a comedic punchline. Even Instagram has a policy of deleting photos with period stains.
Periods are not sexy and tampons are something you’re self-conscious about buying at the store – definitely not fit for Instagram posts. So getting a conversation started about this hidden barrier to true gender equality is a real challenge
Why Freda?
The widespread taboo surrounding periods has also allowed the feminine hygiene industry to operate without any pressure for transparency or responsibility. Consumers demand to know what’s in their food, shampoo and even detergents, but the secrecy and shame of periods has hindered the same demands to be made of the most intimate product that a woman will use for around 30 years of her life (around 23,000 tampons/pads total). It’s time to drag the industry into the 21st Century.
Femtech meets Femcare
Freda is the first truly ethical, natural alternative to big brand, shop-bought feminine hygiene products.
Freda’s organic and eco-friendly period care subscription service allows women to choose their products and sync their deliveries to their cycle – convenience taken to a whole new level. Freda’s period tracking formula ensures that deliveries are made a few days before menstruation begins.
Freda is to tampons what TOMs is to shoes.
Freda donates a portion of each subscription to two charities that donate pads to women and girls in need – A Bloody Good Cause in the UK and Kili Pads in Tanzania – more information
Periods are private, not secret.
The reality for most girls in the developing world is that they have to take care of their feminine hygiene needs without having access to a toilet, water or sanitary products.
130 million girls around the world don’t go to school, while a further 63 million miss one week of school each month as a result of not having access to sanitary pads.
According to the UN’s International Children’s Fund, 1 in 10 schoolgirls in Africa do not go to school during menstruation or drop out when puberty starts.
For every extra year a girl goes to school her income goes up by 12%.
In many cultures, menstruation signals sexual maturity. Globally, 1 in 7 girls aged 15-19 are in a marriage or a union, with 1 in every 3 girls married before the age of 18 in developing countries.
At Freda, we believe that menstruation is the ultimate reminder of women’s inescapable physical realities, yet it is continually ignored or overlooked. It’s incredible that in this day and age, the swimmer Fu Yuanhu and the UK tennis player Heather Watson, both made headlines globally for mentioning their periods. The pop artist, Madison Beer, received hate mail after her embarrassing bikini period stain.
No-one hides their baby in their handbag and refuses to talk about their newborn, so why create such a taboo about the very biological process that enables children to be conceived?
Freda is a start up by women, for women, helping women.
Freda passionately believes in creating effective, safe and ethical periodcare options in a market dominated by a small number of large corporations.
“The idea that in 2017 a girl’s education can be impeded by something as simple as not having access to feminine hygiene is simply not ok. I think that what the team at Freda are doing is amazing since a subscription of a product that we buy every month anyway, will go to supporting women in need across the world and potentially changing their lives in a meaningful way. I’ts time we become aware, we take action and we all decide to #BeBoldForChange .”
Dr Linda Papadopoulos, Chartered Counselling and Health Psychologist and Madame Figaro Women of the Year Award
“Freda is a brilliant product with a beautiful brand and a hard-hitting message. I was shocked to learn that a lack of sanitary pads stops 63 million girls in the developing world from going to school so it’s good to know that a subscription to Freda supports women in need across developing countries and in the UK too. If you want to be #BeBoldForChange on I urge you to subscribe – it’s a bloody good cause!”
– Sarah Wood, Founder of tech firm Unruly and Veuve Clicquot businesswoman of the year
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Press Contact
For further information about Freda you can contact
Affi Parvizi-Wayne Founder
07989 541882
Twitter, Instagram @fredaspeaks