“This is true female sport” — how period-related stigma impacts athletes

Menstrual leaks are rarely seen because females have been trained to hide their periods at all costs — hide products when going to the bathroom, avoid leaks, use euphemisms and nicknames rather than saying the word itself out loud. Even advertisements for menstrual products have traditionally used blue liquid to depict how the product works. 

The opening chapter of the book Flow: The Cultural Story of Menstruation by Elissa Stein and Susan Kim highlights the societal attitude towards menstrual blood, comparing it to what is regularly shown on TV shows and in movies: “Although you can watch buckets of fake blood merrily splooging out of heads and torsos because of fists, bullets, knives, car accidents, grenades, bombs, breaking glass, garrotes, machetes, falling buildings, swords, laser beams, airline crashes, or hungry mutant zombies, rarely will you ever see a single drop as a result of menstruation.”

“Generations of women have been conditioned to believe their periods are disgusting or shameful”

In a USA Today article titled “Who decided a period leak was the end of the world?”, writer Alia E. Dastagir put it perfectly: “Generations of women have been conditioned to believe their periods are disgusting or shameful, which has consequences for women's bodies, healthcare decisions, sex lives and overall well-being.”

It is not only the “disgusting” element of menstruation that has taught people that periods are something to be ashamed of. In 2023, golf superstar Tiger Woods was photographed passing a tampon to his playing partner Justin Thomas, after Woods outdrove Thomas in the opening round of an event on the PGA Tour — the implication clearly being that periods represent weakness and being less than. Such stigma has long pervaded our culture. 

 “There are all these stories about menstruation that were negative because people were afraid of something that was unknown and unexplainable. The ancient world thought that women who were menstruating could destroy crops, could bring storms at sea. Could break mirrors. There was always this negative connotation, and shame, and fear,” Stein is quoted in Dastagir’s article. 

So, why should we, in handball, care about this? Because period-related shame causes girls to drop out of sport.

Disruption to training and competition

A recent study by lead author Jane Strachan and Meghan Casey of Federation University in Australia found that almost one in five girls aged 10 to 16 consider stopping sport because of period-related challenges. 62.8 per cent of the 464 participants reported disruption to training and 33.3 per cent disruption to competition. 

The number one concern was having menstrual blood leak through clothing, with 89.8 per cent reporting worrying about that during training and 91.5 per cent during competition. Secondary was the ability to change period protection when needed during training or competition, with 75.4 per cent citing that as a concern when competing and 61.3 per cent when training.  

Stepping outside the sports sphere to society as a whole, a 2019 study by Plan International, which polled 1,000 girls and young women aged 14 to 21 in the UK, reported that 20 per cent of them had experienced bullying or teasing related to their periods.

Sharp decline in participation in teenage years

The data from the Strachan and Casey study shows that in Australia, girls’ participation in sport is at its highest from ages four to 14, with a peak of 83 per cent at nine years. Participation declines significantly after that, hitting 23 per cent in the 15–19 age bracket. 

While this data can reflect elements specific to Australia that may be irrelevant in the European context, for example, what kinds of sports are most popular, there is one important factor to consider: “As females age, their activity trends towards non-organised sports and activities such as jogging, walking and going to the gym, rather than organised sport,” write Strachan and Casey. 

Organised sport — such as handball. And what is different about organised sport compared to solo sports or organised but less rigid practices, such as a walk with friends? Control on the individual level — basically, the simple question of when you can go to the bathroom. 

Even if the specific percentages noted here are different than what might be found in Europe, they serve as a strong indicator, and it is therefore vital to consider how the arrival of their period — which averages around the age of 12 — can impact girls playing handball.  

The mental toll is significant. If even adult females are concerned about leaks or are hesitant to talk about their period, imagine what it is like for a 13-year-old girl who is experiencing menstruation for the first time — and is potentially even more concerned about keeping it a secret. 

Consider a handball game and the kinds of thoughts that run through a female player’s mind when on their period. Strategising the timing of changing period protection in order to ensure no leaks happen can be a constant process, and the needs vary on a day-to-day basis and even between an individual’s different menstruation cycles. 

Arriving at a venue for a match, a player might already need to consider changing their protection. Then there is warm-up. Should I change it now? Do I need to? Probably a good idea before the game starts. And then half-time. Can what I have on/in now last the rest of the game? Do I need to change now? Is there enough time between the team talk and everything else going on during the break? Not to mention the fact that most players will be wearing resin on their hands. 

That is a mentally exhausting exercise, and it is little wonder many choose simply to remove the challenge of it altogether, but if the related shame were reduced, perhaps it would feel easier to handle. There are other factors, such as pain and concerns about competence, but the data tells us that embarrassment surrounding leaks is by far the biggest obstacle — and it seems likely the one that can be reduced the most and the fastest.

“There really is nothing wrong”

Her Playground ambassador Estelle Nze Minko has shared one of her experiences on this topic: “I was 16 or 17 years old and we had a match in Brest,” she said. “I got my period during the first half of the game. At half-time, I rush to the toilet and make a sort of menstrual pad out of toilet paper. I came back for the second half and at some point, I realise that my ‘pad’ is on the floor. I was in panic mode.”

A player who has won every title there is to win in handball, and this is just an example of a situation so many female athletes have experienced. Triathlete Emma Pallant-Browne shared a photo of herself having leaked through her suit during a race, saying: “This is true female sport and the more barriers we can break through, the better.

“If you wrote to me saying 99 per cent of the women you know would be mortified at this, then that is exactly why I am sharing this, because there really is nothing wrong.” 

Pallant-Browne brings us to a crucial point: That all people understand there is nothing wrong with the “worst” of the period-related fears — leaking. It is something almost everyone who menstruates will or has experienced, and with the understanding of that, the related fear can lessen.

Removing the shame around this topic is crucial in helping our girls feel more comfortable and realise there is an option other than giving up sport entirely. When a leak happens, there should be nothing to be embarrassed about — it is simply a result of trying to manage an uncontrollable bodily function.

“Girls feel extremely insecure about it”

While addressing the stigma surrounding menstruation is the bigger issue on a societal level, a smaller but just as important step is ensuring female athletes feel comfortable in their clothing when training and competing. The rule change for beach handball players to wear shorts has undoubtedly helped that. Regarding the indoor discipline, an important topic is the regulations surrounding the necessity for teams to wear light shorts, especially white ones. 

Vice-chairman of the Danish Handball Federation and former player Mette Vestergaard was quoted by TV2: “The problem is that the girls feel extremely insecure about it, and if you are at the time of the month when you have your period, it is an issue that becomes a big worry.” 

Nze Minko also spoke about white shorts: “I talk about menstruation quite openly, my experience with it and how I manage my daily life about it. You play in white shorts, and you get your period the morning of a match. Logically, hormones have an impact on your body and necessarily when practicing sport.”

Through Nze Minko’s words, we arrive at an important concept within the broader subject: That the only concern when menstruating should be getting to know one’s own body and cycle, which in turn helps athletes learn how to perform even better. Stigma and shame do not serve any purpose — in contrast, they end up driving too many girls away from sport. 

Players like Nze Minko talking about this subject provides huge value to help young females learn not to feel ashamed; to help them understand that whatever they experience is completely normal and that their main concern should be curiosity about how their body works, so they can continue participating and reach even higher levels of performance. 

As Nze Minko said: “It opens my eyes to these connections between the cycles of my body and my inner ability to live my life as an athlete.”

Photos © kolektiff (main & senior athletes in-text), Vuk Raicevic & Rukometni savez Crne Gore (YAC in-text)