Wenshuo Selina
Wan

Unlock the Pink Knot, Founder
Impact Awardee (Healthcare), #ACTNOW

China

Wenshuo Selina Wan is the recipient of the Award (Healthcare category) for the impact she created through her various engagements with HOSA and other health-related organizations, as well as her project Unlock the Pink Knot. 

She is a senior student at Shanghai YKPao School. Growing up in Shanghai, she has been passionate about volunteering, illness, and health since she was young. 

When she was in Grade 8 - 13 years old - she experienced period shaming. First, she felt ashamed of the topic of menstruation and kept it a secret. But then, she started to discover more and more recessive period shaming among other girls in her year group and period teasing from boys; she felt puzzled and angry about why a physiological phenomenon has always been a topic people refuse to discuss; it seemed to be unpresentable. This ‘pink knot’ has been tied for hundreds of years - many girls grow up locked up in their ‘pink knot.’ To untie the ‘pink knot’ is far from enough for women to release their feelings unilaterally. As such, she founded this educational board game - ‘Unlock the Pink Knot,’ which guides the player through a typical period cycle while promoting understanding of menstruation among people of all genders. The team hopes that through the joint efforts of all genders interacting together while playing the game, we can ease the community ethos on period shaming and period teasing so that all girls will be able to unlock this ‘pink knot’.

Moving forward, she hopes to expand awareness of global menstruation issues, let all genders understand what the period is, and create an open and safe environment for discussing menstruation. It's time to act!