New Delhi: There are very few places in the world where people talk openly about periods. People use the “secret code” to refer to menstrual cycle, mostly because periods have been a taboo, especially in certain parts of the world. In such a situation, Scotland has done a great job. Scotland has become the first country in the world to provide free and universal access to period products after a four-year campaign that has fundamentally shifted the public discourse around menstruation.
The Period Products (Free Provision) (Scotland) Act, which passed unanimously through its final stage, will place a legal duty on local authorities to make period products available for all those who need them, building on the work of councils like North Ayrshire, which has been providing free tampons and sanitary towels in its public buildings since 2018.
Tampons and sanitary napkins were being provided free of cost in public buildings at this place since 2018. The bill was introduced by Scotish MP Monica Lennon. Significantly, she has been running a campaign to make it free since 2016. After this campaign, a consensus was reached across the country. Monica Lennon told The Guardian that it was a proud day for Scotland.
Lennon said, “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. There has been a massive change in the way that periods are discussed in public life. A few years ago there had never been an open discussion of menstruation in the Holyrood chamber and now it is mainstream.
Period poverty – the struggle to pay for basic sanitary products on a monthly basis – has surged during the coronavirus pandemic, according to charities. The scheme is estimated to cost about £8.7m a year.
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.”