[ad_1]
Scotland wrote history this week. From now on, public toilets, including those in schools and universities, will offer free menstrual protection.
It is Scottish Labor politician Monica Lennon who for several years has led a campaign against what in Britain is called “menstrual poverty”. A Plan International study found in 2017 that one in ten girls in the UK has had difficulty providing menstrual protection. Almost half of all girls between the ages of 14 and 21 also experience feelings of shame around their period, according to the same report. In many cases, these feelings have caused girls to stay home and not go to school.
The idea of the new Scottish reform she’s trying to deal with these two issues: embarrassment, and the fact that many girls can’t afford it. By making menstrual products as normal and as free as toilet paper in public restrooms, the idea is to normalize menstrual protection and menstruation.
Labor politician Monica Lennon has been campaigning against “menstrual poverty” in the UK for several years.
Photo: Euan Cherry / TT
The issues of menstrual poverty have been hotly debated in the British Isles in recent years. In England, menstrual protection is free in upper secondary schools after a reform in 2019 when Theresa May was still Prime Minister. Scotland now goes further. This is not uncommon. Scottish politics are generally more left-wing than English politics, and the willingness to spend tax money on public projects is greater. On the other hand, poverty is less of a problem in Scotland than in the rest of the UK. Here, 19 per cent of households live in poverty, compared to 22 per cent in England and 24 per cent in Wales.
A related issue that has also been hotly debated in the UK is the so-called ‘tampon tax’. And here is a connection to Brexit.
The British feminist For years, the company has been furious about the five percent VAT on menstrual products. However, the British Government has consistently referred to the fact that, according to EU directives, they have not been able to further reduce the “tampon tax” and at the same time remain a member of the European Customs Union. Not because this made many feminists vote for Brexit in 2016, but now they have what they want thanks to Brexit. In March, the Boris Johnson government announced that the hated “tampon tax” would disappear as of January 1 of next year.
In any case, it is a consequence of Brexit that is currently unclear.
Read more:
Scotland ranks first in the world with free menstrual protection
They had enough and started a menstrual revolution in Britain
