Suggested region and language based on your location
Your current region and language
Empowering employees to seek support and challenge taboos.
“Witnessing the university's proactive steps in addressing menstrual health and promoting equity among its staff and students is truly inspiring.”
OBU had already taken steps to raise awareness of menopause in the workplace. Expanding its focus to include menstrual equity, it aimed to highlight barriers to access for menstrual products and secure funding for campus-wide initiatives.
The Menstrual Equity and Menopause Group was formed within Oxford Brookes University to support staff and students impacted by menstrual health and menopause. In 2023, BSI invited the group to help develop BS 30416, a standard for addressing the issue of menstrual equity in the workplace. In integrating the standard across the organization, OBU needed to ensure any actions taken or communication aligned with the university's core values of sustainability and inclusivity.
The adoption of BS 30416 allowed OBU to better structure its efforts, gain stakeholder support and introduce further initiatives to support menstrual equity across its campus. This empowered staff, students and members of the local community to openly discuss their experiences with menstrual health and menopause, fostering a broader societal shift towards an inclusive, supportive approach to the topic within workplaces and beyond.
BSI's standard helped OBU identify and action a number of recommendations designed to better support staff and students, including:
Partnered with Time of the Month (TOTM) to distribute ethical period care products across campus.
Created a period product map to help students and staff locate nearby collection points.
Collaborated with All Yours Period Box CIC to establish a local donation system for period products.
Continued to plan and hold menstrual health events, launching a website with further resources.
BS 30416 empowered OBU staff and students facing issues related to menstrual health and menopause to speak up and access support at a crucial time:
85% of respondents to a UK survey experience stress or anxiety when managing their periods at work.
Find out moreOnly 12% of organizations provide support for menstruation and menstrual health.
Find out moreAddressing the women’s health gap could boost the global economy by $1 trillion annually by 2040.
Find out more“OBU’s sessions were very informative. It was good to know about the toolkits for managers - and to learn that there is support out there for us, too.”
BSI partners with organizations globally to help them address critical societal issues such as menstrual equity and gender inclusivity, accelerating progress towards a fairer, more sustainable world.
Discover how support for menstruation and menopause can boost employee engagement and empower business performance.
