In a landmark victory, Scotland has become the first country to allow free access to menstrual products, including tampons and pads.
The Scottish Parliament voted unanimously in favour of the Period Products bill on Tuesday. It means period products will be available to access in public buildings including schools and universities across Scotland.
According to the new rules, it will be up to local authorities and education providers to ensure the products are available free of charge. “The campaign has been backed by a wide coalition, including trades unions, women’s organisations and charities,” Monica Lennon, the lawmaker who introduced the bill last year, said ahead of the vote.
After the vote, Lennon said the decision was “a signal to the world that free universal access to period products can be achieved.”
The bill’s accompanying financial memorandum estimates it could cost around £8.7 million a year by 2022, depending on the number of women who will take advantage of the free products.
In 2018, Scotland became the first country to provide free sanitary products in schools, colleges and universities.
The new law was praised by a number of equality and women’s rights groups as well as politicians from across the parties represented in the Scottish Parliament.
One in 10 girls in the United Kingdom have been unable to afford period products, according to a 2017 survey from Plan International UK. The survey also found that nearly half of all girls aged 14 to 21 are embarrassed by their periods, while about half had missed an entire day of school because of them. Scotland’s move follows a string of recent attempts to tackle period poverty in the country.
