Why it Matters
Women in prison have distinct health and wellbeing needs, including menstrual health, that require appropriate care and support. In Queensland, most incarcerated women are under 50, meaning many continue to menstruate during their sentence. However, women placed in high-security settings or safety units face additional restrictions designed to reduce self-harm risks. These restrictions can limit access to standard menstrual products and clothing, creating barriers to basic hygiene and personal comfort.
Independent inspections and reports have highlighted that, in some cases, women in these settings have not had access to clothing that allows menstrual products to be safely and securely used. These circumstances raise important questions about how correctional environments can meet safety requirements while also upholding dignity, privacy, and humane standards of care.
There is currently no published research on menstruation management for women in Australian high-security or safety units. While general prison research highlights issues with menstrual product access and dignity, there is a lack of guidance on how to implement safe, workable solutions in environments with heightened self-harm risk.
Queensland Corrective Services has engaged our research team to explore design-based solutions that respond to these concerns. This project seeks to support the wellbeing of women in high-security environments by ensuring they have safe, practical, and respectful options to manage menstruation.
Project Overview
This project focuses on redesigning the standard-issue “safe” shorts worn by women in high-security prison settings so that menstrual products can be used in a secure, hygienic, and dignified way. To do this, we are taking a co-design approach that brings together the people who understand the issue from different perspectives — those who live in these environments, those who work in them, and those who support women’s health and wellbeing.
We will meet directly with incarcerated women in high-security units to understand their day-to-day needs, challenges, and priorities when managing menstruation under safety restrictions. Their lived experience will sit at the centre of the design process. We will also speak with correctional officers who work in these units, as they have important insights into safety requirements, operational constraints, and how clothing functions in practice.
Alongside this, we will work with the prison uniform workshop staff who sew and maintain clothing items for Queensland correctional facilities. Their technical knowledge — including fabric behaviour, allowable materials, stitching methods, and production processes — will help ensure that any redesign is both feasible and safe. We will also meet with prison health teams, who can provide guidance on menstrual health, hygiene considerations, and clinical impacts. We will also consult with advocacy organisations that support women in prison to ensure the emerging design aligns with broader rights-based and wellbeing-focused perspectives.
These conversations will take place through in-person focus groups (held inside correctional centres) and online meetings for external stakeholders. Together, they will inform our exploration of suitable materials, considerations for high-security environments, and design adjustments that balance safety with comfort and dignity. Using this feedback, the project will develop a prototype pair of redesigned shorts that allow menstrual products to be safely secured. We will also assess how this design could be produced within existing prison sewing workshops, ensuring it is practical to implement across the correctional system.
By working collaboratively with women, staff, and specialists, the project aims to create a solution that supports menstrual care, respects women’s dignity, and meets the safety requirements of Queensland’s correctional environments.
Funding/Grants
This project is funded by Queensland Corrective Services.
Project Team
Chief Investigators
Research Support
- Leonie Sanderson
- Jessica O’Brien
- Dr Abbe Winter
