Charlie Roberts - The Womb Tomb

My form of menstrual activism looks a little different to most, I currently run a small

interactive, immersive venue at festivals called ‘The Womb Tomb’ where our group of

‘Period Vampires’ drain people’s moon blood and supply them with free menstrual products.

Us vampires believe that being silly and having a laugh can help people feel more relaxed and able to talk about their periods and ask for help. We offer a range of support, including reusable products, pain relief, care and a safe space to talk about periods and the problems surrounding them. We host an LGBTQIA+ safe space and want everyone to feel welcome to use our service with the proper facilities to wash reusable products such as moon cups. We also work with festivals to provide bins to dispose of used products discreetly and safely, and make sure there are appropriate hand washing stations. We understand that it can be difficult to deal with a period when away from home so we want to make that a little bit easier and make people's experiences more enjoyable.

Everyone deserves menstrual equity - this means having access to menstrual products,

education and care and the end of shame and gender discrimination. There should not be stigma around periods or the people that have them, regardless of financial status, gender or disability or if they are in prison - appropriate education should be provided for all. I am inspired by Irise’s work in the menstrual justice field and am excited to be a part of it going forward. I have a background in arts and performance so I look forward to bringing a creative approach to the Empower Period Committee, to engage more people and provide menstrual education and support to those in need.

Throughout my life I have had problems with my period, they have been erratic, and painful; signals to deeper problems. When I was younger I felt so much shame from having a heavy flow and having accidents; in school I was told I couldn’t go to the bathroom or that I had to do P.E. and that my period wasn’t an excuse. I never received appropriate education on periods or how to use period products and I thought the severe pain was normal, because of this I ignored ongoing problems for years. I want to help make changes in our system to ensure people don’t have to go through this anymore. As we learn to support and educate each other more, these issues will crop up less.

@theperiodvampires

Charlie is a member of Irise's Empower Period Committee and is based in Cornwall.