Feel free to bleed: OU partners with the Vagina Museum

The Open University has embarked on a bold new collaboration with the Vagina Museum to advance menstrual justice through data driven advocacy, public engagement, and feminist art. The project, Free to Bleed: Data Driven Advocacy and Art for Menstrual Justice, brings together one of the UK’s largest polling exercises on menstruation, a powerful artistic intervention, and a programme of public and academic events aimed at transforming how society understands, sees, and legislates, for menstrual health.

Led by Dr Sophie Doherty, Lecturer in Law in the Faculty of Business and Law, the project responds to a striking gap in the availability of quantitative evidence around menstruation. While anecdotal accounts of menstrual stigma and period poverty are common, systematic data has been lacking. To address this, the team commissioned a major YouGov poll involving over two thousand participants. The survey explores attitudes toward menstrual product provision and public perceptions across a variety of intersections including age, gender, voting alignment, region, health/disability and income, producing one of the most comprehensive datasets of its kind. Analysis is now underway, with findings set to be published in May to coincide with Menstrual Health Day.

Alongside the data, the project places creative expression and feminist precedence at its heart. Artist Wee Nuls, known for her mural Bloody Beautiful (2021), has been commissioned to produce a bespoke artwork for Free to Bleed. Art, the team emphasises, plays a vital role in challenging shame, disrupting silence, and sparking public conversation. Wee Nuls previously partnered with Menstruation Matters (formerly known as The Homeless Period Belfast) to create a public artwork to raise awareness of period poverty and menstrual health, however, the piece gained global attention after being completely destroyed by an unknown man shortly after completion, highlighting the silencing of menstrual issues and controlling of how bodies are represented.

Wee Nul’s Free to Bleed piece will feature in an upcoming exhibition at the Vagina Museum this Summer, offering a powerful cultural counterpoint to the project’s policy focused work. The partnership also extends into community and academic spaces. Recent public events, including engagements with Menstruation Matters and international talks have highlighted significant public appetite for change.

“Partnering with the Vagina Museum means everything to this project. Their commitment to breaking silence, celebrating bodies, and championing intersectional and inclusive feminism aligns completely with what Free to Bleed is about. They bring not only incredible public reach, but a sense of legacy and community, reminding us that we’re part of a wider movement for gynaecological justice. Collaborating with the Vagina Museum helps transform our data, our art, and our advocacy into real momentum for change” said Dr Sophie Doherty.

Ultimately, Free to Bleed seeks to drive meaningful legal reform. The team hopes the project will contribute to evidence that secures legislation requiring free menstrual products in public spaces across England and Wales, improving quality of life and reducing stigma for all who menstruate. With data, creativity, and collaboration at its core, this partnership marks a significant step toward making menstrual justice a reality.