Endometriosis and Reproductive Health Foundation Bulgaria supports women in their reproductive journey especially if they have chronic illnesses and infertility issues. In our 4+ years of operation we came to realize women in Bulgaria need better understanding of their menstrual health and how to support it and this has to start in early adolescent years.
Currently there isn't a menstrual health education program in Bulgarian schools. Talking about menstruation is still a difficult topic. A lot of young girls don't feel they can talk with anyone and don't know how to find answers and help. Many girls turn to social media or their peers for information or to sympathetic teachers who don't have the needed knowledge. There is a lot of resistance towards such education so making it a state program will take a lot of time and girls need support now.
Our strategy consists of 3 parts: 1. Providing free online educational resources about menstruation. 2. Print brochures and posters. 3. Organizing educational sessions and normalizing talking about menstruation. We start with a web page and provide articles, brochures, posters and series of videos for TikTok on menstruation. We will also start a conversation about menstruation on all our channels and will work to normalize talking about menstruation in general in Bulgaria.
By providing information and normalizing talking about menstrual health, we hope to raise a young generation of women who know how to support themselves and make informed decisions about their health and reproduction. We hope to shorten diagnosis periods for endometriosis, adenomyosis, PCOS and other con., as well as prevent sexualy transmitted diseases and complications due to lack of timely treatment. Young women will also be less vulnerable to dismissal when seeking help for painful periods.
