As the founder and driving force behind Share the Dignity, Rochelle Courtenay has transformed the conversation on period poverty in Australia.
Share the Dignity is a not-for-profit organisation that works to make a real difference to the lives of women, girls and those who menstruate who either experience or at risk of homelessness, domestic violence and poverty. It distributes period products to those in need and works to achieve menstrual equity in Australia.
Courtenay has made sure the public and the media couldn’t ignore the issue, and in doing so, she snapped up the Social Change Maker award at B&T’s Women In Media Awards, presented by Are Media.
Chatting with B&T after her win, Courtenay said that the media played a vital role in Share The Dignity’s mission to make sure that “everybody is afforded the dignity in life”.
“At share the dignity, we passionately believe that everybody should be afforded the dignity in life. So it’s one media campaign after another. It’s a hustle after a hustle, and it’s not a sexy subject to be trying to get the media to share”.
In 2024, the campaign hit a wall. Responses stalled, and the media seemed no longer interested. Courtenay didn’t panic, however. She connected with Australians via a personal, raw, honest video asking for help that was distributed across social media. Those stalled responses nearly tripled in just two days.
She didn’t stop there, however, wearing a dress made of sanitary pads for 30 days straight to make a statement. She wore it to meetings, community events, and even while paddleboarding. It was uncomfortable, and that’s the point. Periods are uncomfortable for many.
Courtenay made sure people couldn’t ignore the issue. The campaign attracted another 100,000 survey responses and was covered in 379 media stories, reaching more than 2 million people.
But her work isn’t done. She and the Share The Dignity Team are on a mission for menstrual equity by 2030.
Menstrual products, she told B&T, should be as “accessible as toilet paper”. She is also advocating for education of the topic to be readily available to both boys and girls, men and women.
