Every six days, a woman in Canada is killed by her intimate partner, yet women in abusive relationships are terrified to leave. If their abuser finds evidence that they are trying to leave, the violence will escalate, and their lives will be in danger.

Interval House, Canada’s oldest shelter for abused women, had a very unique challenge: reach those in abusive relationships and get them the information they need to leave, all without their abusive partners finding out.

Working with Union, Interval House created “Freedom Tampons,” a special brand of feminine hygiene products that discreetly provides information about escaping abuse in the one place that a man would never look.

Packaged with an exterior sleeve that masks the vital information inside, each tampon has life-saving information printed on it – including Interval House’s crisis hotline, a checklist of what a woman needs to leave, and signs of abuse.

Each tampon also came in a resealable package that didn’t give any indication of the information that was inside. Full boxes of tampons were sent to counsellors, healthcare workers, and the police, knowing that these people have direct, daily contact with women in abusive relationships. They were also distributed in public women’s washrooms, the one place that a woman in an abusive relationship is alone and away from her abuser.

Since the launch of “Freedom Tampons,” calls to the Interval House Crisis Hotline have increased 176%, all with zero media coverage and no PR amplification. The response has been so positive and the demand so great, that a second run of tampons is in the works.