scotland has officially become the first country in the world to mandate that free menstrual products be made available to anyone who needs them.
the period products act, which went into effect this week, will allow jurisdictions to decide how they will provide tampons and menstrual pads “reasonably easily” to anyone who needs them. public services and institutions must provide the products for free. schools, colleges and universities will continue to provide free period products in their bathrooms, which they have already been doing in scotland since early 2020.
the move is
“is fundamental to equality and dignity,” social justice secretary shona robison said, according to sky news. “we are proud to be the first national government in the world to take such action.”
the scottish law essentially puts pads and tampons in the same category as toilet paper — the logic is that they’re all objects necessary for public health, and so should be freely available.
while this is likely welcome news to any menstruating person, its most significant impact will be on low-income people. one 2021 survey found that the average woman (or other person who menstruates) spends about usd$13.25 on pads or tampons every month. during the average female reproductive cycle — from ages 12 and 52 — that’s more than cad$8,000. (and that’s simply the cost for the products — it doesn’t take into account the cost of pain relief drugs like midol, for instance, or the lost wages for workers who need time off but don’t have paid sick days.)
500 million people experience period poverty
it’s estimated that globally, 500 million people experience “period poverty,” meaning they can’t afford vital menstrual products. and it’s much closer to home than people may think:
almost a quarter
of canadian women said they faced financial difficulty getting menstrual products for themselves or their dependents in 2020. when there’s not enough money for a necessary product, people may be forced to use things like rags, paper or grass. or they might re-use old tampons or pads, or keep tampons or cups in for too long, which can lead to localized infections, utis, bacterial vaginosis (vaginal inflammation) or
toxic shock syndrome
.