Scotland makes period products free

By: Trademagazin editor Date: 2022. 08. 17. 06:03

Scotland is the first to offer tampons, sanitary pads and other menstrual products free of charge. Period products are now free to anyone in Scotland who needs them, nearly two years after the country’s Parliament approved a landmark piece of legislation.

Scotland the first country in the world to provide free sanitary products

The initiative makes Scotland the first country in the world to provide free sanitary products, part of a global effort to end “period poverty” — or a lack of access to tampons or sanitary pads because of prohibitively high costs.

Monica Lennon, the lawmaker who submitted the draft proposal for the Period Products Act in 2020, tweeted that Scotland might be “the first but won’t be the last” country to provide free period products.

“We are witnessing a massive culture change, where period stigma is no longer being tolerated,” Ms. Lennon said in an email to The New York Times. “There’s more emphasis on menstrual well-being and a renewed focus on tackling medical misogyny.”

Northern Ireland is considering a similar measure, and New Zealand and Seoul offer free menstrual products in schools. “It gives me hope that we won’t be the last country to put access to free period products on the statute books,” Ms. Lennon said.

Remy Tumin / The New York Times