Scotland has become the first country to make tampons and pads free

This means that period products will be available for admission to public buildings, including schools and universities in Scotland. Under the new rules, it will be up to local authorities and education providers to ensure that products are available for free.

“The campaign is backed by a broad coalition, including trade unions, women’s organizations and charities,” said MLA Monica Lane, who introduced the bill last year. “Period Scotland will not be the last country to make a history of poverty.”
After the vote, Leno said the decision was “a signal to the world that free universal access to period products can be achieved.”

The financial memorandum with the bill estimates that by 2022 it will cost about mem 7. million a year, depending on the number of women benefiting from the bill-free products. In a document supporting the law, Leno said official inequality figures show that it is reasonable to expect a 20% increase in the scheme, given that around 20% of women in Scotland live in relative poverty.

The number of new laws was praised by many equality and women’s rights groups as well as politicians from all parties represented in the Scottish Parliament.

“We are proud to vote for this groundbreaking law, which makes Scotland the first country in the world to provide free period products to everyone in need. An important policy for women and girls,” Scottish Prime Minister Nicola Sturgeon said on her official Twitter page.

According to a 2017 survey by Plan International UK, one in 10 girls in the United Kingdom has been unable to afford period products. The survey also found that about half of the girls between the ages of 14 and 21 feel ashamed of their periods, while about half of the girls miss school all day because of them.

Scotland’s move is part of a series of recent efforts to alleviate periodic poverty in the country.

In 2018, the government announced that students in schools, colleges and universities across the country will be able to access free sanitary products through an investment of 5. 5.2 million. In 2019, a further 4 4 million was allocated to make period products available free of charge in libraries and recreation centers.

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

CNN’s Harmeet Kaur contributed to the reporting