Scotland is the first country to make free tampons and pads

This means that contemporary products will be available in public buildings, including schools and universities in Scotland. Under the new rules, it will be the responsibility of local authorities and education providers to ensure that products are available free of charge.

“The campaign was supported by a broad coalition, including unions, women’s organizations and charities,” Monica Lennon, the legislature who introduced the bill last year, said before the vote. “Scotland will not be the last country to write a history of poverty”
After the vote, Lennon said the decision was “a signal to the world that free universal access to contemporary products is available.”

The financial memorandum accompanying the bill is estimated to cost £ 8.7 million a year by 2022, depending on how many women use free products. In the document supporting the legislation, Lennon said it was reasonable to expect a 20% application of the scheme, given that official inequality statistics show that nearly 20% of women in Scotland live in relative poverty.

The new law has been praised by politicians from a number of equal opportunities and women’s rights groups as well as parties represented in the Scottish Parliament.

“I am proud to have voted in favor of this groundbreaking legislation making Scotland the first country in the world to provide free periodicals to all who need them. An important policy for women and girls,” Scottish First Minister Nicola Sturgeon said on official Twitter. side of the vote.

One in 10 girls in the UK could not afford contemporary products, according to a 2017 survey by Plan International UK. The survey also found that nearly half of girls between the ages of 14 and 21 are embarrassed with menstruation, while about half of them missed a full-day school.

Scotland’s move follows a series of recent attempts to tackle poverty in the country.

In 2018, the government announced that students in schools, colleges and universities in the countries will have free access to health products through an investment of £ 5.2 million. In 2019, it set aside an additional £ 4 million to make contemporary products available free of charge in libraries and recreation centers.

England launched an initiative last year to provide free health care products in schools, and New Zealand did the same earlier this year.

CNN’s Harmeet Kaur contributed to the reports