[Music]
[Applause]
hello I’m Bex Baxter and I’m here to
talk to you about periods just want you
to notice for a moment if there’s any
discomfort that might be coming up
around this subject and just allow it to
be there now I want you to compare that
discomfort to being bent double white as
a sheet and feeling repetitive menstrual
cramps deep into your belly because
traditionally we have spent so much time
trying to appease that discomfort of
just talking about this subject and very
little time giving the compassion to the
hundreds and thousands of women across
the globe who everyday are suffering
because of the taboo around menstruation
in the workplace but we’ve come a long
way and in the last year we’ve noticed
that sanitary adverts have cottoned on
to the idea that blood is in fact red
and not this year Caribbean Lagoon blue
that they used to represent it Scotland
have also made great strides towards
ending period poverty and they’re aiming
to give everyone access to free sanitary
products and coexist last year made
international headlines for our idea to
create immense rural policy so who are
coexist coexist is a vibrant social
enterprise based in Bristol
seeks to create social change through
community empowerment I was the director
there for seven years and their people
Development Manager how exists is
responsible for many many innovative
projects and ideas but it was two years
ago when something truly remarkable
happened
I saw a member of staff bent double
white as a sheet clearly in a lot of
pain over reception and still serving
customers I did what any compassionate
human would do and as her line manager
I obviously stoled her to go home but it
wasn’t as simple as that
she started to shoo me away with those
four very familiar words it’s just my
period I knew those words in my own mind
and in hundreds of thousands of women
across the UK I didn’t know it then but
this very British attitude putting on
the brave face turns out to be a very
global response to menstral suffering in
that moment I got this bizarre sort of
excitement because I knew I could do
something this was a basic human rights
issue and as an innovative company maybe
we could trial something we could test
drive something new and end the
suffering and the taboo around
menstruation in the workplace so I got
to work and invited the amazing
Alexandra Pope co-founder of red school
and co-author of wild power she X shared
an expertise in helping people recognize
the innate intelligence of the menstrual
cycle we knew that this was going to be
valuable to many other people so we
invited a hundred different business
is to come in to learn from her the
media went wild periods were being
talked about from Bristol to Beijing
where he were contacted from as far as
the Czech Republic
we’re on talk shows in the USA in
Australia and of course the tabloids
let’s just say that the response varied
massively but what was really clear was
that we touched a nerve and this
conversation was alive and the taboo was
being smashed right before our eyes
surprisingly some of the biggest initial
critics were women I fully understood
that women who had strived so hard
trying to create equality in the
workplace by being treated the same as
men would be really threatened by these
ideas one comment that sticks in the
mind is you’re putting feminism back by
a hundred years by doing this but for
every criticism there were voices of
encouragement it felt like we were
receiving a thunderous accolade for
daring to go into new territory for
saying the unsayable women have an
innate natural cycle that is intelligent
evolutionary and life-giving it is a
power not a problem and we need to value
its potential and not treat it as a
sickness
my favorite comment came from a 60 year
old man he said I want to thank you I’ve
got a wife and two daughters and I’ve
worked my entire life so I know how
important this is he clearly understood
the challenges his family had endured
trying to work within the structures
that are designed for men what he made
me realize is that true
is about valuing difference and
accommodating it the monstre policy we
proposed was fully supported by all the
men and women that coexists so how did
it work
we we started by exploring a blanket –
Damon paid minstrel leave but very
quickly we realized this wasn’t going to
work for us at this time women were
starting to track their cycles and
analyze their needs departments were
investigating how they could support and
accommodate staff but it was clear it
was not going to be a one-size-fits-all
solution and why should it be we’re all
different and the nature of our work is
different – it became clear that a flexi
time model would be our very best fit
this allowed women who were tracking
their cycle to plan ahead take time off
and put it back in what we realized was
that by having the option of paying it
back or passing it over to coat to cover
staff all hours with them accounted for
crucially menstral flexi time actually
relieves the stigma that women are being
privileged
over men the moment of our policy was in
place I went home and I felt very
strange and unfamiliar sensation I’m
allowed to be here and look after myself
all of a sudden I realized that the
shame wasn’t there and I realized that
this was one of my most crucial
learnings and I called it the permission
field it’s a culture of trust that
relieves the stress anxiety and shame of
taking menstrual leave we realized that
the fear of these judgements was often
crippling and actually increases
suffering brought on about by our
periods
I have personally suffered with
dysmenorrhea but
five years this is meant I usually have
very heavy and painful periods even for
me with the acceptance
I felt through the policy I actually
found my periods had become less painful
and less debilitating by listening to my
body I’m resting when I needed to I
recovered quicker and was morphic
effective and productive but there is
another key aspect to this work we have
separated menstruation from sickness no
one should be stigmatized for taking
time off for a normal natural cycle
there are more serious conditions such
as endometriosis and premenstrual
dysphoric disorder which will need extra
support and care but so far our staff
have experienced a profound effect on
their well-being but not everybody was
ready to accept our ideas right away
paradigm shifts are generally preceded
by resistance and as I rememba for our
policy has received a critical response
as well as its champions what we needed
next was to be able to explain our ideas
and demonstrate the value and importance
and then I met the amazing Lara Owen a
magnificent woman who gave us the
language the science and the deep
systems-thinking to develop our policy
and address some very valid concerns
Lara is also a leader in the field of
menstruation an author of her blood is
gold but it was her background in
business that provided the valuable
insights into how to create a genuinely
effective and robust model we hope to
use this research to convince leaders in
enterprise that menstral flexi time is a
valuable tool for organizations to
explore worldwide we found that it
builds builds commitment resilience and
increases well-being and productivity in
the work
place I’d like to leave you with some
final thoughts menstruation is not
solely a female issue it affects
everyone it is the natural cycle that
brings new life and we can now no longer
ignore that even at work none of us
would be here today without it so it
unites humanity and should not separate
us which it has done for far too long so
we don’t need to fight against our
nature we can work with it and this will
benefit people and businesses alike so I
ask you let’s remember that menstruation
is a power not a problem it can liberate
us to be the best selves and everyone
deserves that right let’s break through
that discomfort of talking about our
periods so that they can be valued and
integrated into our lives and together
let’s end this workplace taboo period
you
[Applause]
hello I’m Bex Baxter and I’m here to
talk to you about periods just want you
to notice for a moment if there’s any
discomfort that might be coming up
around this subject and just allow it to
be there now I want you to compare that
discomfort to being bent double white as
a sheet and feeling repetitive menstrual
cramps deep into your belly because
traditionally we have spent so much time
trying to appease that discomfort of
just talking about this subject and very
little time giving the compassion to the
hundreds and thousands of women across
the globe who everyday are suffering
because of the taboo around menstruation
in the workplace but we’ve come a long
way and in the last year we’ve noticed
that sanitary adverts have cottoned on
to the idea that blood is in fact red
and not this year Caribbean Lagoon blue
that they used to represent it Scotland
have also made great strides towards
ending period poverty and they’re aiming
to give everyone access to free sanitary
products and coexist last year made
international headlines for our idea to
create immense rural policy so who are
coexist coexist is a vibrant social
enterprise based in Bristol
seeks to create social change through
community empowerment I was the director
there for seven years and their people
Development Manager how exists is
responsible for many many innovative
projects and ideas but it was two years
ago when something truly remarkable
happened
I saw a member of staff bent double
white as a sheet clearly in a lot of
pain over reception and still serving
customers I did what any compassionate
human would do and as her line manager
I obviously stoled her to go home but it
wasn’t as simple as that
she started to shoo me away with those
four very familiar words it’s just my
period I knew those words in my own mind
and in hundreds of thousands of women
across the UK I didn’t know it then but
this very British attitude putting on
the brave face turns out to be a very
global response to menstral suffering in
that moment I got this bizarre sort of
excitement because I knew I could do
something this was a basic human rights
issue and as an innovative company maybe
we could trial something we could test
drive something new and end the
suffering and the taboo around
menstruation in the workplace so I got
to work and invited the amazing
Alexandra Pope co-founder of red school
and co-author of wild power she X shared
an expertise in helping people recognize
the innate intelligence of the menstrual
cycle we knew that this was going to be
valuable to many other people so we
invited a hundred different business
is to come in to learn from her the
media went wild periods were being
talked about from Bristol to Beijing
where he were contacted from as far as
the Czech Republic
we’re on talk shows in the USA in
Australia and of course the tabloids
let’s just say that the response varied
massively but what was really clear was
that we touched a nerve and this
conversation was alive and the taboo was
being smashed right before our eyes
surprisingly some of the biggest initial
critics were women I fully understood
that women who had strived so hard
trying to create equality in the
workplace by being treated the same as
men would be really threatened by these
ideas one comment that sticks in the
mind is you’re putting feminism back by
a hundred years by doing this but for
every criticism there were voices of
encouragement it felt like we were
receiving a thunderous accolade for
daring to go into new territory for
saying the unsayable women have an
innate natural cycle that is intelligent
evolutionary and life-giving it is a
power not a problem and we need to value
its potential and not treat it as a
sickness
my favorite comment came from a 60 year
old man he said I want to thank you I’ve
got a wife and two daughters and I’ve
worked my entire life so I know how
important this is he clearly understood
the challenges his family had endured
trying to work within the structures
that are designed for men what he made
me realize is that true
is about valuing difference and
accommodating it the monstre policy we
proposed was fully supported by all the
men and women that coexists so how did
it work
we we started by exploring a blanket –
Damon paid minstrel leave but very
quickly we realized this wasn’t going to
work for us at this time women were
starting to track their cycles and
analyze their needs departments were
investigating how they could support and
accommodate staff but it was clear it
was not going to be a one-size-fits-all
solution and why should it be we’re all
different and the nature of our work is
different – it became clear that a flexi
time model would be our very best fit
this allowed women who were tracking
their cycle to plan ahead take time off
and put it back in what we realized was
that by having the option of paying it
back or passing it over to coat to cover
staff all hours with them accounted for
crucially menstral flexi time actually
relieves the stigma that women are being
privileged
over men the moment of our policy was in
place I went home and I felt very
strange and unfamiliar sensation I’m
allowed to be here and look after myself
all of a sudden I realized that the
shame wasn’t there and I realized that
this was one of my most crucial
learnings and I called it the permission
field it’s a culture of trust that
relieves the stress anxiety and shame of
taking menstrual leave we realized that
the fear of these judgements was often
crippling and actually increases
suffering brought on about by our
periods
I have personally suffered with
dysmenorrhea but
five years this is meant I usually have
very heavy and painful periods even for
me with the acceptance
I felt through the policy I actually
found my periods had become less painful
and less debilitating by listening to my
body I’m resting when I needed to I
recovered quicker and was morphic
effective and productive but there is
another key aspect to this work we have
separated menstruation from sickness no
one should be stigmatized for taking
time off for a normal natural cycle
there are more serious conditions such
as endometriosis and premenstrual
dysphoric disorder which will need extra
support and care but so far our staff
have experienced a profound effect on
their well-being but not everybody was
ready to accept our ideas right away
paradigm shifts are generally preceded
by resistance and as I rememba for our
policy has received a critical response
as well as its champions what we needed
next was to be able to explain our ideas
and demonstrate the value and importance
and then I met the amazing Lara Owen a
magnificent woman who gave us the
language the science and the deep
systems-thinking to develop our policy
and address some very valid concerns
Lara is also a leader in the field of
menstruation an author of her blood is
gold but it was her background in
business that provided the valuable
insights into how to create a genuinely
effective and robust model we hope to
use this research to convince leaders in
enterprise that menstral flexi time is a
valuable tool for organizations to
explore worldwide we found that it
builds builds commitment resilience and
increases well-being and productivity in
the work
place I’d like to leave you with some
final thoughts menstruation is not
solely a female issue it affects
everyone it is the natural cycle that
brings new life and we can now no longer
ignore that even at work none of us
would be here today without it so it
unites humanity and should not separate
us which it has done for far too long so
we don’t need to fight against our
nature we can work with it and this will
benefit people and businesses alike so I
ask you let’s remember that menstruation
is a power not a problem it can liberate
us to be the best selves and everyone
deserves that right let’s break through
that discomfort of talking about our
periods so that they can be valued and
integrated into our lives and together
let’s end this workplace taboo period
you
Please follow and like us: