By Claudia Abbott, Sarah Kramer and Klaudia Hostynska
When Nikki Iyayi started working at Bloody Good Period, an organisation that distributes free period products to people who need them, she knew what to expect. After all, this was the 23rd job the 28-year-old had taken on, mainly in the field of human rights.
Iyayi is currently operations manager at Bloody Good Period, which helps women and people who menstruate get quality products, including sanitary towels, pads and period pants.
The organisation works by making most of their money through donations from everyday people, which is why Iyayi maintains a friendly approach and builds relationships through critical thinking and good time management.
The charity has partnered with over 150 organisations around the UK, including, food banks, mother and baby units, care homes, drug and alcohol support and probation houses. Bloody Good Period delivered 119.4K sanitary products in 2022 to these organisations.
Giving a voice to the voiceless
There are a lot of myths about periods, Iyayi told a panel about the cost-of-living crisis at London Metropolitan University yesterday. Apart from talking about period products we need to talk about the menstruating body, she said. “Talk about it – move the conversation forward!
“Periods are taboo…so people don’t talk about period products,” she added. Some people resort to using tissues or nappies, or don’t go out or miss class. This has to change.
Iyayi, who completed a degree in Politics with Human Rights, says her priority is spreading awareness of how serious period poverty is, especially now with the cost-of-living crisis. At the same time, her focus is to “give voices to people that aren’t able to speak to the press, for example, refugees and asylum seekers who face a very hostile environment in the UK”.
Her passion for social justice permeates a lot of areas of her life, as she fights for marginalised groups to be understood and looked after.
“The government have tried to make period products more affordable by removing the tampon tax, but they also said the money from the tampon tax would then be used to relieve period poverty, yet we are still waiting for that since 2019, 250k disappeared,” said Iyayi.
Making her first short film
In addition to working at Bloody Good Period, Iyayi also finished her first short film, “Small Chops”, about the friendship between two Black women, and what happens when one goes missing.
“This is not a story that is meant to humanise Black women that go missing, this is a story that shows this can happen to anyone at any time, but when it happens to a Black woman what happens then?” she explained on the website Greenlit.
For more information, see Iyayi’s YouTube video explaining more about the film.
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