Scotland: World’s First Country Providing Free and Universal Access to Sanitary Products
By: Ashwathy Nair
On Tuesday, After the Scottish parliament universally passed legislation, the first nation in the world to provide women of all age groups with free and universal access to sanitary products is Scotland.
In order to make feminine hygiene products like tampons and pads to be freely accessible for those who are in need of them, a nationwide program, which will place a legal duty on all local authorities will be introduced by the Scottish government under the Period Products (Free Provision) (Scotland) Act.
This initiative will make sanitary pads and tampons to be freely accessible at almost every public places, which will include youth clubs, community centres, and pharmacies, at an approximate price of 8.7 million pounds a year by 2022. It will also be mandated to make feminine hygiene products accessible for students at schools, colleges and universities.
As per the Scottish Labour’s health spokeswoman, Monica Lennon, who launched the bill in April 2019, the purpose of this initiative is to reduce “period poverty” by making sure that everybody has access to basic sanitary products.
She stated that “The initiative is going to make a massive change to the lives of women and girls along with all those who are menstruating. At the community level and by local authorities, great progress has already been perceived in giving everybody the chance of period dignity”.
“There has been a major shift in the way periods are openly discussed in public life. There has never been an open debate upon menstruation, a few years ago in the Holyrood chamber but now it is normal. It has been appreciated by MSPs being a part of that, and it has included the menopause, endometriosis, along with the types of products that are being used by us and their sustainability”.
A number of women’s right organizations and politicians in Scotland have widely appreciated the new law. The data shows that there is an acute ‘period poverty’ issue in the United Kingdom. As per a 2017 report by Plan International, a children’s charity found that one in 10 girls in the United Kingdom is unable to afford even a basic period product.
Scotland has become the first country that provides free feminine hygiene products to all schools and universities.
