A BLIND woman from St Austell hopes to raise awareness and break the stigma of periods by sharing her story for the tenth Menstrual Hygiene Day 2024 today (Tuesday, May 28).

“Dealing with a period is the worst thing about being a blind woman,” says Tracy Richie in a blog for sight loss charity, iSightCornwall.

Tracy began losing her sight about five years ago and now has no remaining vision. She has had to adapt to many new challenges in her life due to losing her sight, but dealing with a period was not something she had considered until she was forced to.

“Month after month, it’s a minefield,” she admits. “People don’t want to hear about periods, they don’t want to talk about them, but they affect around 50% of the world’s population, and that includes people with disabilities.

“It’s an important topic that needs to be addressed. Although work is being done to make periods less of a taboo topic, I feel like the challenges people with sight loss face when it comes to periods is never discussed.”

For most people, a period is a private time. “But it’s not private when you’re blind,” says Tracy.” You have to ask other people whether or not you’ve made a mess, to check your clothes, to check your bed or your bathroom. To rely on somebody else for that is so humiliating.

“I won’t even leave the house the first few days, to try and avoid embarrassing situations. It’s so isolating, and I know I’m lucky enough to have good friends who I can rely on for the more embarrassing parts of life. I dread to think about what I would do if I didn’t have those people.

“This is health, this is dignity. Dignity is everything to you when you’ve lost your sight and we need to start discussing issues like this to start making a difference.”

iSightCornwall team member Bethan Perry sat down with Tracy to listen to her story. “I’m ashamed to say it was something I hadn’t really considered, despite working with people who are visually impaired every day,” she said.

“I think the stigma attached to periods means there’s not as much discussion, support or advice out there as there should be and we’re working to change that.

“Tracy’s experience is one that so many people face every month and it’s something which should be discussed, to help stop people feeling like they’re facing these challenges alone.”

Menstrual Hygiene Day aims to bring together non-profit organisations, businesses, politicians and individuals around the world to raise awareness of menstrual health. This year’s campaign has a theme of working together for a period-friendly world.

Tracy’s blog is available to read at www.isightcornwall.org.uk/blog