In what can be called as a historic step to safeguard personal hygiene for women, the Scottish Parliament has unanimously passed legislation to provide all sanitary products free for women.
The bill brought forward by Member of the Scottish Parliament (MSP) Monica Lennon was approved by unanimously to make these products available to everyone free of cost. The bill was approved on Tuesday by 121 votes to zero after it received the support of the Scottish government and the other opposition parties.
A report in Skynews quoted Lennon as saying, "The 'Period Products (Free Provision) (Scotland) Bill was a "practical and progressive" piece of legislation that became all the more important due to coronavirus pandemic.” Lennon further said that Scotland will not be the last nation to make period poverty history. She stated the new rule was a signal to the world that free universal access to period products can be completed.
As now the bill is passed, the sanitary items will be made available in public buildings including schools, universities, youth clubs and pharmacies across the country. The new rules specify that the local authorities are required to guarantee the free availability of the products. The measure will make sanitary pads freely available at an estimated cost of £8.7 million pounds a year by 2022.
The objective of the movement is to eradicate ‘period poverty’ by ensuring that everyone has access to basic sanitary products.
Meanwhile, in 2018, Scotland became the first nation to provide free feminine hygiene products in all schools and universities.
