Sanitary pads and tampons available for free in Scotland from today

At the end of 2020, the Scottish Parliament unanimously approved a law allowing menstrual products to be offered free of charge.

You still have to pay for tampons and sanitary napkins in the supermarket, but those who don’t have money can use it An application find one of hundreds of places where products can be picked up for free starting today.

“First but not last country”

“No one should worry about where their next tampon, sanitary napkin or reusable product comes from,” Scottish Labor MP Monica Lennon said when she introduced the bill. “Scotland won’t be the last country to have a period of poverty referenced in history, but we could be the first.”

Period poverty is also a problem in the Netherlands. The exact size is unknown. Out to research it seems that around 1 in 10 Dutch girls and young women have too little money to buy sanitary napkins or tampons.

In Ciska, there was no money for sanitary napkins. She had previously confided in RTL Nieuws about this menstrual poverty:

Scotland also wants to fight menstrual poverty by distributing the products free of charge in the toilets of schools and universities.

Free in New Zealand schools

In New Zealand, school children have been able to use tampons and sanitary pads free of charge since last year. “Menstruation is a fact for half the population,” said Julie Anne Genter, New Zealand’s minister for women at the time. “Access to these products is a necessity, not a luxury.”

New Zealand media reported last month that menstrual products are now available in over 2,000 schools. More than 600,000 products have been distributed to students across the country. “A great success”, welcomes the minister responsible.