Scotland is the First Country to Make Period Products Free. Who’s next?
On the 24th November 2020, The period Products (Free Provision) (Scotland) Act was passed. This act builds upon the work of some councils in Scotland that have already been providing free sanitary towels and tampons in public buildings since 2018.
The campaign was started 4 years by MSP Monica Lennon. The bill was first created to tackle ‘period poverty’. Monica Lennon sees period products as a basic necessity and believes that providing access to these products is important for people’s dignity. The Scottish Government had already begun to provide free period products to those in need but Monica Lennon wanted to make free period products a legal requirement.
“This will make a massive difference to the lives of women and girls and everyone who menstruates. There has already been great progress at a community level and through local authorities in giving everyone the chance of period dignity.”
Monica Lennon, MSP, Scottish Labour
On average period products cost individuals around £13 per month and this can equate to several thousands of pounds over a lifetime.
Period Poverty
Period poverty has been an ongoing issue for the UK. However, since the beginning of the coronavirus crisis, some period poverty groups have been providing almost 6 times the amount of period products since before the beginning of the pandemic.
Bloody Good Period (BGP) has been supplying community support groups, food banks, homeless shelters, those fleeing domestic violence, asylum seekers and refugees, and even NHS frontline workers. The charity has supplied over 53,000 menstrual products since March.
“Periods don’t stop in a pandemic,”
Gabby Edlin, Founder and Chief Executive, BGP
How it Works
The scheme, which is estimated to cost about £8.7m a year, will not be means-tested. The legislation will also enshrine in law the requirement for schools, colleges and universities to provide the products for free, which was announced in 2017 by the first minister, Nicola Sturgeon.
Who’s Next?
Lennon said that campaigners across the world had been watching progress in Scotland very closely. “It’s an important message in the middle of a global pandemic that we can still put the rights of women and girls high up the political agenda.”
