Destigmatizing Menstrual Health for Black Communities with The Black Women’s Reproductive Health Project - Ep. 213

FemTech Focus

English - June 14, 2023 04:00 - 43 minutes - 39.8 MB - ★★★★★ - 51 ratings
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Previous Episode: Women's Blood Disorders: Clotting and Bleeding from Periods through Menopause with Ariela Marshall - Ep. 212

Next Episode: Revolutionizing Data Collection for Improved Health Outcomes with My Normative - Ep. 214

In this episode, we talk to Tora Abrahams, Project Lead for the Black Women’s Reproductive Health Project. In this interview, we discuss stigmas around menstruation for Black communities, paid period leave and how to get men involved in the conversation.

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Guest bio

Originally working in human rights law, Tora led a judicial review claim against the prison service for forcing a strip-search of her female client whilst she was menstruating. Following this successful claim, Tora identified other repeated misogyny within public services recognising that services were designed by men and for men, but failing women. After leaving the law, Tora moved to a charity specialising in gender specific services and soon after she found her passion in advocating for stronger conversations and attention to female reproductive rights. It was whilst managing a charity focusing on period poverty during the pandemic and following the global attention to BLM, Tora spearheaded the first ever UK project that looks into the menstrual-reproductive health journeys and needs of Black and Black-mixed British women.

Tora is a mixed-race woman of South African heritage and speaks proudly of her family's ethnicity and history in leaving apartheid South Africa and setting themselves up in a small working class town of North West England. She is a passionate advocate for marginalised people, working her day job as a Business Development Consultant for non-profits specialising in racial and gender equality. She also designed the first menstrual health empowerment education programme delivered in Uganda, East Africa that engages both boys and girls to talk about periods. Tora is passionate about work in this space and welcomes conversations from men and women on topics of female reproductive health and racial injustice.

Organization bio

The Black Women’s Reproductive Health project supports African and Caribbean women with access to information, advocacy, peer support and has created the first ever UK report that details the menstrual-reproductive needs and experiences of Black and Black-mixed women. We sit under T.A.P The African Pot Project who are a Manchester based non-for-profit working to empower and liberate African people across the diaspora, under 4 main pillars of practice: business, community, education and health.

(The BWRH project represents women and people with female reproductive systems.)

FemTech Focus Podcast bio

The FemTech Focus Podcast is brought to you by FemHealth Insights, the leader in Women’s Health market research and consulting. In this show, Dr. Brittany Barreto hosts meaningfully provocative conversations that bring FemTech experts - including doctors, scientists, inventors, and founders - on air to talk about the innovative technology, services, and products (collectively known as FemTech) that are improving women's health and wellness. Though many leaders in FemTech are women, this podcast is not specifically about female founders, nor is it geared toward a specifically female audience. The podcast gives our host, Dr. Brittany Barreto, and guests an engaging, friendly environment to learn about the past, present, and future of women’s health and wellness.

FemHealth Insights bio

Led by a team of analysts and advisors who specialize in female health, FemHealth Insights is a female health-specific market research and analysis firm, offering businesses in diverse industries unparalleled access to the comprehensive data and insights needed to illuminate areas of untapped potential in the nuanced women’s health market.

Time Stamps

[04:35] Tora’s background

[07:12] A magic wand to change the prison system for women

[13:12] The Black Women’s Reproductive Health (BWRH) Project

[19:45] Consulting on UK period poverty

[22:37] Stigma within the Black community

[27:14] Changing the narrative

[30:28] Paid period leave

[32:38] Tora’s work in Uganda

[35:23] What is motivating Ugandan men to be interested in the subject of menstruation?

[37:30] What can we learn from Uganda in getting UK or US men involved?

[39:47] What’s an area of Women’s Health and Wellness that still needs innovating?