Fiona Anderson from Heaton is working to end the stigma around periods.

As a muscular dystrophy campaigner, she uses her personal experiences of accessible toilets to demand vital improvements to basic facilities.

She says that just one of the issues with disabled toilets is a complete lack of sanitary product dispensers in accessible toilets, despite there typically being dispensers in female toilets.

Ms Anderson said: "There's absolutely none in regular accessible toilets. Out of my whole disabled life, I've come across them once.

I had no clue what the machine was because I'd never seen one in a disabled toilet.

"In Bolton, even though the transport interchange had a brand new accessible toilet when it was opened, there's still no sanitary product dispenser. It's got all the features, except if you're a disabled woman.

"[The dispensers are] just as important as all the other facilities."

Transport for Greater Manchester has been approached for comment.

Ms Anderson says the insufficient facilities make her feel that she cannot be both a disabled person and a woman. She added: "You'd expect in this day and age for people to think that disabled women actually have periods.

"It seems like that's something we have to make society aware of, it's just not talked about.

"I would like it to be standard, [sanitary products] shouldn't be something we have to campaign for. It makes me very sad.

"Men and women use the accessible toilets, it should be be in the building plans."

Although other female toilets do have sanitary dispensers, the MD activist says that they can still be inaccessible to women in wheelchairs. Wheelchairs may not fit around the corners leading to the dispensers, or the dispensers may be positioned too high for people in wheelchairs to reach.

Instead of having to cope with the fear of coming on her period unexpectedly or having to carry sanitary products with her constantly, Ms Anderson felt she had no other choice but to go on contraceptives to stop her periods completely.

Something which she says is a method used by lots of disabled women.

However, this option became impossible for her after complications with the side effects, in combination with her other medications.

She said that the lack of access to sanitary products in public places is "forcing women into taking drastic action".