The Women's Football World Cup has put millions of eyeballs on women's sport, but female athletes are still fighting for their rights - on the field and in the bathrooms.
The world is finally wising up to women's sport, but the players still have battles to be won, like pay and equity, unwanted grabbing and turning up to a venue with no female bathrooms, when you have your period.
"As a player growing up, I was in a lot of mixed teams, with a lot of boys around," recalled Football Ferns star Annalie Longo. "It was never a conversation we wanted to speak about.
"I remember sneaking into the bathroom withe the products and hide it."
Then, there are the uniforms.
"I spent most of my career in the national team, 16 years now, playing in all white," said Longo. "It's taken until this year, when Nike changed out home kit to all black.
"It's definitely shifting, now the conversation is out there. No-one likes to play in a full white kit, particularly females, so I'm certainly happy that's changed."
Now, Sport NZ has launched 'The Flow on Effect', a resource aimed at keeping women active at all times of the month.
"It isn't a time you should feel embarrassed," said Counties Manukau U17 basketball representative Fern Taiapa. "I know a lot of girls who just didn't tell their parents and just dealt with it in their own ways.
"That shouldn't be how you deal with it.
"My ikura does affect me, when I play sport. My stomach's hurting, my cramps are happening, I'm feeling irritated with my teammates...
"I feel, as long as you're expressing that with your girls - 'This is how I'm feeling, this is my time of the month' - you connect on that level, because you're both women."
A former rower, Taiapa had to educate her coach.
"Where I'm from - with my iwi, my hapu - they believe going on the water, even on a boat, if you're on your ikura, that's tapu.
"When I told him this was cultural tikanga, he understood and gave me other alternatives, other than going on the boat on the water, which I appreciated.
"Male coaches just need to be more educated on how it affects women and their bodies and their mental health, and just feel sympathy towards us."
The Flow on Effect's ultimate goal is to kick away the stigma and keep conversation flowing.
"There's certainly an eye on women's sport at the moment," said Longo. "To have people on board and supporting our national teams is massive.
"The more we can talk about these types of conversations, and make people feel confident and make sport accessible, I think we're in a good place."
Watch the video for the full conversation
