A global symbol for menstruation

The red ribbon for HIV/AIDS. The rainbow flag for LGBTQ+ rights. Symbols have the power to catalyse awareness and action. Created by MH Day, the Menstruation Bracelet is a global symbol for menstruation. The bracelet consists of 28 elements, five of the elements are red. 28 stands for the average length of the cycle, five for the average length of a period.

By wearing the bracelet, people show that periods are nothing to hide, start conversations about menstruation and help to push back period stigma, one bracelet at a time.

Use the Menstruation Bracelet to engage political decision makers, your social media followers, influencers, and your organisation’s leadership and staff.

Help popularise the Menstruation Bracelet by using it as widely as possible: on social media, on your website or when you hold in-person events. Integrate it into any assets such presentations, posters and reports. Not just around MH Day, but every day.

Use the bracelet in your organisation’s Menstrual Hygiene Day campaign

Get your organisation’s leadership and colleagues to join in

Use the bracelet to activate your organisation’s leadership and your colleagues. For example, invite them to create and submit their own bracelet selfies. Create a collage and post the image on your social channels to show your organisation’s support for the issue. Remember to tag us and include the MH Day hashtags, #MHDay2023 and #WeAreCommitted, in your posts, so we can find and amplify them.

Engage your social media followers

Encourage your social media followers to take part in the Menstrual Hygiene Day campaign by posting their own bracelet selfie. Remind your followers to tag MH Day in their posts and use the campaign hashtags #MHDay2023 #WeAreCommitted #EndPeriodStigma so that we can find and share their content.

Collaborating with influencers

Working with influencers can help you reach new audiences with positive messaging about menstruation. The bracelet is a simple and attractive way for influencers to add their voice to the campaign. Contact influencers who already speak out about MHH or gender equality and invite them to take a stand against period stigma. Ask influencers to tag us and use the campaign hashtags, #MHDay2023 and #WeAreCommitted, so we can find and amplify their posts.

Engage political decision makers

Political decision makers may be hesitant to talk about menstruation. The bracelet is the perfect tool to break the ice and offer political decision makers an easy way to show their support for this topic.

Contact political decision makers ahead of Menstrual Hygiene Day, take their picture wearing the bracelet and ask them to publish their picture on their own social channels. Remember to ask them to tag us and use the campaign hashtags #MHDay2023 and #WeAreCommitted so that we can find and share their posts.

Get your organisation’s leadership and colleagues to join in

Use the bracelet to activate your organisation’s leadership and your colleagues. For example, invite them to create and submit their own bracelet selfies. Create a collage and post the image on your social channels to show your organisation’s support for the issue. Remember to tag us and include the MH Day hashtags, #MHDay2023 and #WeAreCommitted, in your posts, so we can find and amplify them.

Engage your social media followers

Encourage your social media followers to take part in the Menstrual Hygiene Day campaign by posting their own bracelet selfie. Remind your followers to tag MH Day in their posts and use the campaign hashtags #MHDay2023 #WeAreCommitted #EndPeriodStigma so that we can find and share their content.

Collaborating with influencers

Working with influencers can help you reach new audiences with positive messaging about menstruation. The bracelet is a simple and attractive way for influencers to add their voice to the campaign. Contact influencers who already speak out about MHH or gender equality and invite them to take a stand against period stigma. Ask influencers to tag us and use the campaign hashtags, #MHDay2023 and #WeAreCommitted, so we can find and amplify their posts.

Engage political decision makers

Political decision makers may be hesitant to talk about menstruation. The bracelet is the perfect tool to break the ice and offer political decision makers an easy way to show their support for this topic.

Contact political decision makers ahead of Menstrual Hygiene Day, take their picture wearing the bracelet and ask them to publish their picture on their own social channels. Remember to ask them to tag us and use the campaign hashtags #MHDay2023 and #WeAreCommitted so that we can find and share their posts.

Remember to use the hashtags #MHDay2023 and #WeAreCommitted and tag us @menstrualhygieneday (Facebook, Instagram) and @mhday28may (Twitter), so that we can find and share your tweets, posts and stories.

How the bracelet was used in 2022

Digital, paper, beads: your bracelet options

Digital bracelets

The easiest way to get your bracelet is by using one of the digital bracelets created by MH Day. As well as the regular circle-shaped bracelet, you can also get it in a variety of other shapes such as a blood drop, speech bubble, a heart and many more. Adding a bracelet to a photo is super simple and takes just a few seconds. We recommend using Canva as it’s free and easy to use, although you can use any design app that you’re comfortable and familiar with.

We have created GIFs especially for Instagram stories. Find them in the stickers section on Insta or on GIPHY by searching for ‘MHDay’.

Create your own bracelet

Feeling creative? Why not make your own Menstruation Bracelet! While you can use any material you have available, using beads is likely to be the easiest option. The only guideline is that the bracelet should be made from 28 elements and five of them should be red.

Use our template to make a set of simple paper bracelets. Each template gives you eight bracelets in different sizes. Print the A4 template, colour five of the beads in red, use scissors to cut out the individual bracelets and then attach the ends using sticky tape – done!