“A signal that the female period should not be hidden” — Denmark blazing a new trail

The collaboration with RedLocker began at the 2023 IHF Women’s World Championship, co-hosted by Denmark, Sweden and Norway in December that year.

“Back then we had RedLockers in the changing rooms for the players in both arenas and initiated it as a part of our social sustainability initiatives. We wanted to put a focus on menstruation and equal terms for players. We thought it was important to put focus on this and try to break the taboo,” says project lead Camilla Bevensee.

“It was for the same reason that we made contact to RedLocker again this spring — to take more responsibility for equal rights and to put the subject on the agenda as there is still a taboo around menstruation, not least in a sports context.”

The collaboration involves both the provision of the free products and bringing the topic more into the spotlight through the dissemination of knowledge and open conversations.

“We wanted to make menstruation products more accessible in the handball arenas around Denmark, but we decided to start somewhere else and start the conversation about menstruation first, along with spreading knowledge about it. We started out with a joint vision of a physical and an online event with some very interesting presenters and had a workshop about how a joint effort around these events in a shared communication campaign could look,” says Bevensee. 

“To be honest we didn't have a lot of economical resources for the project, so we had to be creative. I think the turn up at our first event, the media attention and the timing with the women's World Championships and our wish to avoid playing in light coloured shorts has proven to be a good combination for really putting this subject on the agenda.”

That first event to which Bevensee refers was an information evening for coaches, held in Esbjerg in early November, with 30 participants eager to progress the conversation and improve their own knowledge. 14 of the participants were men, and coaches of all different ages attended, from early 20s to the most experienced.

“There was a lot of interest in the scientific physiological side of the female cycle and hormone fluctuations that Professor Mette Hansen gave a perspective on, but more so the coaches there were interested in the hard conversations — so how you as a coach can talk to the athletes about their period without crossing neither their nor your own boundaries,” says Bevensee.

“We had a very experienced guy from the swimming federation with us talking about how you can open a space for the hard topics with the young girls and how you can at the same time protect yourself as a coach, especially a male coach. He talked about some great examples of how he had been there for the girls he was coaching in hard times and how the concept he developed has led to a very open and natural culture when it comes to menstruation and talking about the body and how the athletes feel.”

The information evening in Esbjerg was the first of many intended to take place. One of the next confirmed items on the agenda is a webinar about menstruation and wellbeing on 8 December.

“We want to plan another info evening and more lectures in different locations and with different perspectives,” says Bevensee, explaining that the upcoming co-hosting of the Men’s EHF EURO is a temporary core focus for the federation, “but when spring comes, we will sit down with RedLocker again and make a plan for the next steps including more communication and events. And on the side, the process of getting RedLockers up in the gym halls around the country will continue, of course, as intense as possible and so will the conversation and spreading of knowledge in the clubs, we hope.”

“A way of decreasing the stress and anxiety for the athletes”

The idea behind the provision of free menstrual products in changerooms is to serve two crucial needs for girls and women: to have something available when their period arrives unexpectedly and to mitigate the fear of leaking during sports activity by making products readily available.

“The access to menstruation products in toilets and changing rooms is, first of all, a way of decreasing the stress and anxiety for the athletes and making sure they have a safety net for when they might need it. Second, it is a good opportunity to start the conversation and to normalise menstruation as a part of life that we should not be ashamed of, neither girls or boys — everyone should know about it and be able to talk about it,” says Bevensee.

“There is a point of the RedLockers being red and very visible — it is a signal that the female period should not be hidden and it shows the girls that it is okay to have and be influenced by, as this is still something we do — try to hide and hush down something that we cannot avoid and that we all deal with.”

This part of the project, involving the installation of the RedLockers, is just getting underway.

“It is at a very early stage by now within this project, but the idea is not new and it is spreading throughout the society in schools, libraries and businesses in both Denmark and the rest of Scandinavia. RedLocker is not the only ones doing this, but they are definitely driving a lot of the development,” says Bevensee.

“We are in contact with several municipalities and self-owned halls and arenas, but we have not finalised any installations yet. We hope it will get rolling soon when we get in contact with even more people.”

The goal is that by the time Denmark co-host the Women’s EHF EURO 2028 with Norway and Sweden, RedLockers will be present in almost all handball halls in Denmark. 

Photos: Danish Handball Association; kolektiff images/Uros Hocevar (EHF EURO)