Rochelle is Share the Dignity’s Founder and Managing Director; the title she is most proud of though is ‘Pad Lady’. Rochelle leads a team of volunteers who to date have collected around 2.5 million sanitary products across Australia.
When Rochelle first learnt of homeless women going without basic sanitary items during their menstrual cycle, she decided the question was not, “why is no one doing anything” but rather, “what’s stopping me from doing something?”
In March 2015, Rochelle took matters into her own hands collecting sanitary items with her local community and distributing to local shelters. As a result, a simple idea of giving dignity to women, Share the Dignity was created and has grown to a national charity. Consequently, it has over 5,000 volunteers Australia wide, and most noteworthy, provides multiple initiatives aimed at giving dignity to women.
From a grassroots local community initiative to a national charity, Share the Dignity has struck a chord with the Australian public and continues to evolve in order to provide for the needs of at-risk women and children supporting nearly 2500 Australian charities. Working tirelessly with over 5000 volunteers, the charity has been able to deliver over 2.5 million packets of pads and tampons and over 526,000 essential filled handbags to Australian women and girls. In 2018 we introduced the nappy bag to meet the needs of mums-to-be and new mums focusing on products such as maternity pads, breast pads and nappies.
In 2018, Rochelle and her team of national supporters successfully campaigned the Federal Government to abolish the GST on sanitary items stating: “It’s not fair or right to have GST on sanitary items because they’re a basic human right and not a luxury. Ferrero Rochers are a luxury in my house.”
Rochelle designed a world-first Dignity Vending Machine, known affectionately as the ‘Pinkbox’. The vending machines are purposely designed to dispense a free period pack of sanitary items. As of April 2020, there are 160 installed in schools, and areas of severe poverty Australia-wide. These have been installed in public toilets, charities, homeless hubs, health centres, community centres, Aboriginal health services and schools across Australia.
Furthermore, Share the Dignity runs a number of campaigns each year. Dignity Drives in March and April, a high tea DigniTEA in May, Yoga4Dignity and Run4Dignity encouraging the community to become involved and made possible with the support of a dedicated and passionate volunteer network.
The Christmas appeal “It’s in the Bag’ was created after Rochelle was cleaning out her bathroom cupboard and thought that women in need would be able to use the unopened items and started to pop them in to a bag… the idea went viral and It’s in the Bag was created. The community are asked to donate a pre-loved or new handbag filled with sanitary items plus some of other life’s essentials like shampoo, conditioner, deodorant, soap, toothpaste, a toothbrush and any other gift they may wish to donate. To date Share the Dignity have collected 526,000 handbags.
Rochelle is testament that one person can make a difference. In saying that Rochelle is the first to say she didn’t do it all alone she has surrounded herself with incredible humans who like her believed that NO woman should ever use socks or newspaper to deal with their period.
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