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How Scotland led the world to make period products free for women

A supporter of the period products bill outside parliament in Edinburgh  - Andrew Milligan/ PA
A supporter of the period products bill outside parliament in Edinburgh - Andrew Milligan/ PA

There’s a number of reasons why the year 2020 will go down in history: we've had a nationwide pandemic, a nail biting election, and a Royal family drama, to name a few. But in the midst of these attention-grabbing events, smaller – yet arguably no less important – milestones are being established.

Today, history was made after Scotland became the first country to provide free and universal access to period products to those who need them, after the long-awaited Period Products (Free Provision) (Scotland) Act was passed unanimously. It's a landmark moment for campaigners, who have worked tirelessly to bring period poverty into the political conversation – and potentially for women around the world.

The bill was fronted by the Scottish Labour MSP Monica Lennon, who started work on a plan to address period poverty in Scotland in 2016 when she was first elected. Lennon called the vote a “a proud day for Scotland”, adding: “This will make a massive difference to the lives of women and girls and everyone who menstruates."

Indeed, four years ago, period poverty was barely on the radar for Lennon’s fellow MSPs – although the issue was a growing concern for Scottish women. A survey undertaken in 2018 by the grass roots group Women for Independence revealed women were using toilet paper, rags, and old clothes in place of sanitary pads, which they couldn’t afford, while nearly one in five respondents said they went without period products due to financial strain.

And that’s without addressing the stigma: a separate study in 2017 found that 71 per cent of 14 to 21-year-olds felt embarrassed buying period products. Indeed, tackling this stigma played an important role in putting together the bill. Speaking earlier this year, Lennon said: “It’s always been about addressing the needs of people who are in extreme poverty and low income and have a struggle around affordability, but more broadly, it’s about access, it’s about recognising that periods are completely normal, so why should you have to hunt about an office or borrow emergency tampons or sneak about with them up your sleeve?”

Monica Lennon has fought tirelessly for free period provision in Scotland -  Fraser Bremner/Scottish Daily Mail/ PA
Monica Lennon has fought tirelessly for free period provision in Scotland - Fraser Bremner/Scottish Daily Mail/ PA

Lennon's efforts to bring periods into political discourse are commendable: the two haven't always had the most comfortable relationship. In 2018, the Labour MP Danielle Rowley was praised for announcing that she was on her period during a Q&A session – a speech that was perceived to have broken a long standing taboo in the House of Commons. Indeed, during a debate about the tampon tax in 2015, Labour MP Stella Creasy refused took issue with Tory MP Sir Bill Cash's repeated use of the phrase "these products" as a substitute for 'sanitary towels' or 'tampons'.

So, how did Scotland make such a significant cultural change happen? Lennon first proposed a bill to provide free menstrual products in 2017. In the same year, a government-funded pilot scheme in Aberdeen provided 1,000 women with period supplies, leading to the introduction of a £500,000 trial across several Scottish cities. These trials were aimed at women in low-income households who were struggling to access support for period products.

Kerry Wright, 38, quickly became a key member of the pilot scheme through her work with the CFINE food bank in Aberdeen, which was one of the local community initiatives distributing free period products. “When I heard politicians discussing the pilot scheme, I felt there was something missing: they needed someone who had been through it to speak out, and recognise that the issue was real.”

Wright was that person. Having grown up in a disadvantaged family in Aberdeen, she knew what it was like to struggle to access period products – both as a teenager, and later in life as a single mother. “All my money was going on food for the children. When I was on my period, I would just stay in the house near the toilet; I had no other choice,” she says.

These days, Wright works as the Financial Inclusion Advisor for CFINE, and no longer has to worry about how she's going to fund her next pack of tampons. However, she says she “can’t stop smiling” at the news which she has been “waiting 25 years for”.

“It’s a great comfort to know that my daughters, or other young girls, can grow up in a world where they won’t have to worry about accessing period products,” she says.

As the scheme gained traction, advertising began to play a key role in bringing periods into the mainstream conversation in Scotland. Earlier this year, the Scottish Government released an advertising campaign named ‘Let's Call Periods, Periods.’ Its aim was to recognise the number of words people use to avoid saying the word period ('Aunt Flo', 'time of the month', 'on the rag'), and encourage young women to feel more comfortable talking about menstruation.

In 2018, the Scottish Government made further steps to address the issue by introducing free menstrual products in schools as as part of a £5.2m scheme to fight period poverty. For the next two years, Lennon and her fellow campaigners kept the pressure on the Scottish Government to expand this to include universities, and local authorities.

Period products  -  Jane Barlow/PA
Period products - Jane Barlow/PA

However, getting the bill through its final stages in Parliament wasn’t easy. Originally, it was opposed by the SNP Government; they queried the £9.7 million estimated cost and suggested the real figure could be as high as £24.1 million. There were even concerns about cross-border tampon "raids" if they were free in Scotland but not in England.

After a U-turn, the move was backed overwhelmingly by all the parties. Caron Lindsay, the Scottish Liberal Democrats’ Equalities Spokesperson who supported the bill, says she thinks that Scotland "will look back on this moment proudly as a nation."

"I congratulate Monica Lennon for her tireless efforts in campaigning to end period poverty for good," she adds.

Now the bill has been passed, it’s up to schools, universities and local authorities to provide access points where girls can get their free products. “What we’re aiming for is as many access points as possible; if a girl is too shy to ask at school, then she should be able to get products from her local library,” says Wright.

Can a similar move be implemented in England? It's true that period poverty is currently on the rise. National charity Bloody Good Period said it distributed more than 23,000 packs in the three months after the first Covid lockdown began.

In January this year, the Government followed Scotland's lead by making tampons and sanitary products freely available to all states schools and colleges in England after the launch of a scheme funded by the Department for Education. However, just under 40pc of state schools and colleges have placed orders since it was launched. It's believed some schools simply aren't aware that the scheme exists.

Amika George, founder of campaigning group Free Periods, says the Scottish bill is “brilliant and encouraging news” for women, but maintains more needs to be done to increase access to free period products in England.

“I’m feeling quite emotional today: Scotland’s progressive stance to menstrual equity is proof that we can do the same here. But we know that during a pandemic, it’s not just students that are affected; places which previously offered free products such as homeless shelters and food-banks have been closed,” she says. “With so many now at the sharp end of poverty, the socioeconomic and health challenges of people facing period poverty are exacerbated."

Tina Leslie, Founder of Freedom 4 Girls, agrees, saying that England is still “miles behind Scotland” in tackling period poverty. She says the next step is to ensure all schools are aware of the opportunity to give away free products, and then increase pressure on the Government to include older women in the conversation too.

"There's a lot more women in period poverty than teenagers and it's hugely increased over the pandemic. What happened in Scotland is a massive step forward for the awareness around period poverty: I hope that our Government can follow suit."