NEED TO KNOW
- Darian Brooker is sharing her story forShare the Dignity’s It’s in the Bag Christmas campaign.
- The drive runs from November 6 to 22 and encourages women to donate period products in Bunnings stores.
- Darian was familiar with period poverty in her childhood and is now working to help others.
Growing up, Darian Brooker was no stranger to hardship.
As a kid she was in and out of foster care on the NSW South Coast and attended 26 different schools.
By age 11, she was living with her older sister. Money was tight and Darian was painfully aware of the family’s financial struggles.
“I never felt I could ask for what I needed,” Darian, now 29, tells New Idea.
When she started her periods it was just another expense and Darian resorted to using toilet paper and wearing several pairs of underwear because sanitary pads were too expensive.
“I had really heavy, painful periods and I was always bleeding through,” she says.
During her hour-long bus journey to school, Darian would sit at the front, waiting until everyone else had got off before standing up, terrified someone might notice her stained clothes.
At school, she could ask reception staff for a sanitary pad, but they would only give her one at a time.
“I’d have to keep going back and asking, multiple times a day, for several days,” she says. “It was so embarrassing.”
For years, Darian silently endured what she would later discover had a name – period poverty.
It wasn’t until her mid-20s, when she stumbled across an Instagram post from Australian charity Share the Dignity, she realised she wasn’t alone.
“They were looking for people who’d experienced period poverty, and I remember thinking, ‘What’s period poverty?’” she says. “When I started reading about it, I realised it was what I’d been through.”
Determined to help other girls avoid the shame she’d experienced, Darian contacted the charity and began sharing her story.
Founded by Rochelle Courtenay in 2015, Share the Dignity works to ensure women and girls across Australia have access to free period products.
Rochelle was inspired to establish the charity after reading about homeless women forced to use socks and newspaper during their periods.
“I knew there wasn’t a woman on earth who wouldn’t give a pad or tampon to another woman in a bathroom,” Rochelle says.
More than a decade later, the charity continues to support women in need, particularly as cost-of-living pressures mount.
Now it’s preparing for its annual It’s in the Bag Christmas campaign, running from November 6 to 22.
Australians are encouraged to fill a handbag with toiletries and period products, and drop it at their local Bunnings store.
Volunteers then distribute the bags to women who are experiencing homelessness or spending Christmas in domestic violence shelters.
This year’s campaign has even received some unexpected star power, with Oprah Winfrey sending a handbag from America!
“When I met Oprah in Australia last year, she said she loved the idea and wished she’d known about it so she could put a bag together,” Rochelle says. “Instead, she put one together for this year!”
Darian, recently named Young Sydneysider of the Year for her work helping disadvantaged young people, is walking the talk as well as sharing her story.
She’s made free period products available in her workplace for her 50 staff.
“I’m constantly refilling them,” she says. “It’s such a small expense for a business, but it can make such a difference.”
Darian hopes sharing her story will raise awareness of period poverty and the importance of access to essential sanitary products.
“People underestimate the impact of small actions,” she says. “Something as simple as donating a packet of pads or putting together a bag can make a lasting difference to someone’s life.”
