In Italy and around the world, we are committed to ensuring that all people have the tools, knowledge and support to live their health and bodily autonomy with dignity, while challenging the social and cultural structures that reduce women's visibility, value and rights.

These are issues that we have explored in depth in our report Il corpo politico, which explores the connections between sexual and reproductive rights, ageing, and menopause from a gender and intersectional perspective. It also shows how society has historically confined women to their reproductive function and how ageism – a form of discrimination, stereotyping or prejudice based on a person's age – reduces the visibility and social value of older women, especially when they are no longer considered fertile.



  • What is period poverty and why talk about period justice

    Not all people who menstruate can afford menstrual products such as sanitary pads, tampons or menstrual cups. This condition has a name: menstrual poverty.

    It is a global problem affecting millions of people who, for economic, cultural or social reasons, do not have access to menstrual products, water, safe toilets or accurate information to manage their menstrual health.

    Period poverty is not just an economic issue. It is also a matter of rights and personal freedom. When a person gives up going to school, work or sports because they cannot manage their period safely or because they feel ashamed – due to stigma and prejudice associated with menstruation – we are faced with a serious form of inequality.

    That is why we are committed to promoting menstrual justice and putting the rights of all people who menstruate at the centre.

    Why do we do this?

    Because ensuring menstrual health is a matter of justice.

    When there is menstrual justice, all people who menstruate have access to the menstrual products they want, are free to make decisions about their own bodies, receive adequate information, can experience their menstrual cycle free from stigma and psychological distress, and are not limited in their participation in social life.

  • Our commitment in Italy

    In Italy, we continue to work to bring menstruation to the forefront of public debate.

    For years, we have been calling for the elimination of the Tampon Tax, the tax that affects menstrual products. We believe this tax is a real form of discrimination that limits the freedom and dignity of those who menstruate.

    To address the lack of available data, we have launched a research project to gain a deeper understanding of the conditions related to health, poverty and menstrual justice in Italy. This commitment led to the creation of enCICLOpedia, the first national survey on menstrual poverty, carried out in collaboration with Ipsos on a representative sample of the Italian population. The report reveals that almost 1 in 6 people in our country cannot afford to buy menstrual products and, through analysis, testimonials and the Manifesto for Menstrual Justice, proposes concrete solutions and effective policies.

    Our Manifesto for Menstrual Justice contains six concrete points to break down stigma and taboos, recognise menstrual health as a right and promote more equitable public policies. Among our proposals:

    • Let's call them by their name, let's call them all.

    • The menstrual cycle is not a luxury: 0% VAT

    • Free menstrual products in all schools and public buildings.

    • Sex and emotional education in schools.

    • Let's take care of ourselves.

    • Menstrual leave

  • Bringing menstrual rights to the whole of Italy

    The goal is clear: to bring menstrual rights to the whole of Italy, because menstruation is not a private matter, but a public health issue.

    Follow our Super Period and become a menstrual activist yourself!

    In order to bring these issues to the forefront of public debate, together with CHEAP, a public art collective, we have created the Legalise Menstruation campaign in the historic centre of Bologna to stimulate a public conversation about menstruation free from judgement.

    We believe that one of the most effective means of achieving menstrual justice, in addition to providing information, is to promote concrete actions, such as the presentation of motions and active initiatives at the local level. For this reason, together with the Tocca a Noi association, we have launched the Menstrual Justice in the Municipality campaign, a process that involves local authorities, schools and citizens in breaking the taboo of menstruation and promoting motions in Italian municipalities such as the abolition of VAT on menstrual products in municipal pharmacies or free distribution in public spaces.

    Alongside initiatives aimed at the general public, we carry out educational awareness projects such as the Diario di Luna (Moon Diary), a menstrual diary also translated into Swahili, English, Russian, Ukrainian, Moldovan and Arabic, designed to accompany girls and adolescents in discovering their bodies in a conscious and peaceful way. Each version is contextualised to suit different cultural and local sensibilities. The diary allows users to monitor the regularity and intensity of their periods, note symptoms such as pain or mood swings, and promotes greater body awareness by providing a clear overview of their biological rhythms over time.

  • Our commitment around the world

    Following the publication of EnCICLOpedia, which arose from international experience and observation of how the debate and interventions on menstrual justice were more advanced in other contexts than in Italy, we have compiled enCYCLEpedia, the English version, which broadens the reflection to the main global challenges and proposes concrete strategies for change, suggesting how the experiences and practices observed elsewhere can inspire new perspectives in the Italian context as well.

    As the data and stories collected in enCYCLEpedia remind us, menstrual justice is not just an Italian issue, but a shared global challenge. For this reason, we work every day to address it together with the communities in the countries where we operate. In emergency and humanitarian crisis contexts – such as in Palestine – we distribute “dignity kits”, which contain menstrual products and essential items to ensure hygiene and safety even in the most difficult situations. Discover the Home Sweet Home photography project – Images of Resistance from Palestine.

    We promote education on menstrual health in schools and communities in countries such as Kenya, Tanzania, Lebanon and Palestine, where girls often miss school during their period or are stigmatised.

    In these programmes, girls learn about their bodies, how to manage their periods safely and how to talk freely about menstruation. We also involve girls, boys, parents and teachers, because cultural change requires the participation of the whole community.

    As our WE CARE. Atlas of Sexual, Reproductive, Maternal, Child and Adolescent Health in the World, shows, inequalities related to menstruation are still widespread everywhere. For example, in sub-Saharan Africa, 1 in 10 girls misses school during their period, while more than 1 in 3 boys believe that menstruation should be kept secret.

    These figures confirm how urgent it is to recognise menstrual health not as a private matter, but as part of the universal right to health.

    This idea also inspired our artistic project Cicli di Giustizia (Cycles of Justice), created with the Nafasi Art Space in Dar es Salaam, Tanzania. Cicli di Giustizia amplifies the voices of Tanzanian women and girls to transform taboos about menstruation into languages of freedom and awareness.

    A chapter of our book In Rivolta. Manifesto dei corpi liberi (Ed. Castelvecchi) is dedicated to this project in Tanzania. The book brings together the voices of over twenty authors, including activists, economists, writers, gender medicine professionals and people who work with and for WeWorld in various contexts.