The bill passed by the Scottish Parliament would require the country to provide sanitary towels and hygiene products free of charge to anyone who needs them. An inclusive move to combat period poverty and gender discrimination.
Providing sanitary products and menstrual hygiene products free of charge to anyone who needs them. This is the bill passed this week by the Scottish Parliament that would give the country the distinction of being the first in the world to do so.
The bill – the Period products (free provision) Scotland bill – was met with unanimous approval, receiving 112 votes in favour, none against and just one abstention, thus passing the first stage of the legislative process (a second stage will follow, during which amendments may be proposed). Introduced by Labour MSP Monica Lennon, if it eventually becomes law, it would impose on the government – as a legal duty – the obligation to ensure that female sanitary products are available to anyone who needs them, free of charge.
It would become a landmark in normalising menstruation in Scotland and send a message to people about how seriously Parliament takes the issue of gender equality. Monica Lennon, Scottish Labour MSP
The country will therefore need to launch a plan to make this possible, making menstrual hygiene products available in designated public places, such as pharmacies, youth clubs and community centres, with an estimated investment of £24.1 million per year (€28.3 million).
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This move, which builds on the country's already groundbreaking decision – introduced last year – to provide free sanitary products to all female students (from primary school through secondary school to university), aims to put an end to gender inequalities by combating period poverty: the condition in which a person cannot afford the products they need during menstruation.
Why in 2020 is toilet paper considered a necessity but menstrual products are not? Penalising people financially for a natural function of our bodies is neither fair nor right. Alison Johnstone, Scottish MSP
Period poverty is a far more common and widespread phenomenon than one might think: it is not only a problem in developing countries ravaged by extreme poverty and lack of access to basic products, but also in the industrialised Global North. For example, according to a study in the United Kingdom, one in ten girls (10 per cent) cannot afford the sanitary products they need every month, and one in seven struggles to buy them — bearing in mind that sanitary products in the United Kingdom are taxed at 5 per cent. In Italy, for example, sanitary towels are taxed at 22 per cent, the maximum rate, while VAT has been reduced to 5 per cent for fully biodegradable ones, which are, however, little marketed and hard to find.
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Finally, this decision would also address another aspect of the issue: the stigma surrounding menstruation. Even today, all over the world, menstruation is a source of prejudice, exclusion and even violence. A great many girls skip school during those days — half of those surveyed in the United Kingdom did so, according to the same research — and in some countries they are culturally excluded or forced into isolation. Or, more simply, many girls feel ashamed to buy sanitary products and avoid talking about them, and therefore do not inform or educate themselves sufficiently on the subject.
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This is therefore an inclusive step, both economically and socially, one that would lift the veil on deeply rooted taboos and discrimination in order to make something natural, normal and fair.