Scotland on Tuesday has scripted the history as it decided to provide period products free of cost to every girl out there in the country. With this move, Scotland has become the first-ever country to make sanitary pads, tampons free for women of all age groups, after the Scottish Parliament unanimously passed legislation.
Under the new law "Period Products (Free Provision) (Scotland) Act," the Scottish government will introduce a nationwide program which will place a legal duty on all local authorities to sell feminine hygiene products such as pads and tampons freely available for those who need them, the Guardian reported.
With this measure, sanitary products will be freely available at nearly all public places including community centres, youth clubs, and pharmacies, at an estimated cost of 8.7 million pounds a year by 2022.
All the schools, colleges, and universities will also be directed to make period products freely available and accessible for students.
According to Scottish Labour's health spokeswoman, Monica Lennon, the aim to introduce this campaign is to eliminate "period poverty" in the country by ensuring that everyone has access to basic sanitary products. This bill, however, was introduced by Monica back in 2019.
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During the debate, the bill's proposer, Scottish Labour MP Monica Lennon, said, "No one should have to worry about where their next tampon, pad or reusable is coming from. Scotland will not be the last country to consign period poverty to history, but we have the chance to be the first."
In 2018, Scotland became the first country to provide free sanitary products in schools, colleges, and universities.
Notably, this new law is being widely appreciated by a number of women's rights groups and politicians in Scotland.
According to the data of the 2017 survey, the United Kingdom has an acute 'period poverty' problem as one in 10 girls in the nation are not able to afford basic period products to maintain hygiene.