Plan International UK and Plan Australia launched a campaign in 2017 to introduce a period emoji for menstruation stigma. Now, that goal will soon become a reality.
On February 6, Unicode Consortium, the ruling emoji organisation, confirmed a red droplet will soon be hitting your keyboards in spring 2019.
55,000 people reportedly backed the campaign in order to break the silence and stigma surrounding menstruation. The period emoji is the first step in beginning a dialogue about it across the globe.
Lucy Russell, Head of Girls' Rights & Youth at Plan International UK, told a news portal this emoji, "which can express what 800 million women around the world are experiencing every month, is a huge step towards normalising periods and smashing the stigma which surrounds them." Adding, "For years we’ve obsessively silenced and euphemised periods."
Russell further stated: "As experts in girls’ rights, we know that this has a negative impact on girls; girls feel embarrassed to talk about their periods, they’re missing out, and they can suffer health implications as a consequence."
An emoji in today's digital age plays an important role in how we communicate and express ourselves."A period emoji can help normalise periods in everyday conversation," says Barlow. "For an organisation like Unicode to recognise that menstruation should be represented in this new global language is a huge step towards breaking down a global culture of shame around periods" Carmen Barlow, digital strategy and development manager at Plan International UK, told a news portal.
