Making Menstruation Shameless — Flow With Dignity

It always baffled me how menstruation felt like an isolating circumstance despite being surrounded by women growing up. My biological reality was a luxury,

I always found it baffling how menstruation seemed like an isolating circumstance despite growing up being surrounded by women. My biological reality was a luxury and apparently shameful for others to tackle—my biological reality was never a choice.

The irony became even more clearer when I stepped inside MSU-IIT— a university championing inclusivity, yet still bound by period poverty.

Taking the stage as Mx. COE Influencer provided me with a platform to bring this issue to light at a forward-thinking university. From that moment, Flow with Dignity was born: an initiative aiming for an open discussion without any shame or stigma and calling for institutionalized accessibility.

Flow with Dignity sparked months of dialogue across campus, driving two community extension events, one campus-wide open forum, and one period tracker design.

Together with COE-SC and the fourth-year students of JPIChE-MSU-IIT, we brought the menstruation talk to the youth of Brgy. Tambacan and CSWD Iligan by conducting an outreach that emphasizes its biology and social aspects, breaking bonds of taboos and ignorance, and empowering the youth. One of the memories that will forever live with me was watching the kids be very keen to participate and learn, reminding us that we hold so much influence over the youth’s future.

Days after the outreach, we also held a Gender Sensitivity Open Forum at MSU-IIT, bringing together both menstruating and non-menstruating communities. Two special guests unpacked menstrual health through the lenses of biology, gender sensitivity, and social equity. While I pocketed invaluable insights, what moved me most were the participants who truly embraced the “No Shame” space, asking multiple questions and showing the critical knowledge gaps surrounding menstruation. Might I add that the non-menstruating community emerged as the most active participants, a reality we hope to see every day.

Additionally, we developed a period tracker to simplify cycle monitoring and broaden how we track menstrual wellness, innovating existing period trackers in hopes of giving OB-GYNs a clear diagnostic tool to provide better care.

I am deeply honored to be one of the project leaders of this initiative, to have the support of MSU-IIT COE-SC, and to have the platform and influence to openly advocate for a reality we have been dismissing as “just a woman’s problem”. As my friend has said, every man knows a woman. Thus, this conversation is beyond just our biology.

May Flow with Dignity witness and achieve the reality it aims. Let’s continue to talk about menstruation, period, or dalaw. Let’s end period poverty and stigma.

Flow with Dignity—No Shame. No Stain.