Scotland becomes the first country to offer free access to menstrual prodcuts

By Maia Irvin 

On Tuesday, Scottish lawmakers unanimously voted to make period products freely available in public places, becoming the first country in the world to do so, according to news sources. 

The Period Products bill makes menstrual products available for free in public buildings, according to CNN. These public buildings will include schools and universities across the country, CNN reported. 

This law is intended to end period poverty, The New York Times reported. Period poverty is a term that represents the expense of period products that has left many of those who require them without access to them, according to the Times. 

Several women's rights and equality groups praised the law as well as several Scottish lawmakers like Monica Lennon who is the lawmaker who introduced the bill last year, according to CNN. 

"[This is] a signal to the world that free universal access to period products can be achieved," Lennon said after Tuesday's vote. 

While this is a monumental achievement, Lennon and other Scottish lawmakers emphasized after the vote that there is still work left to be done in dismantling the stigma and embarrassment around periods, the Times reported. 

The measure is estimated to cost about £8.7 million a year by 2022, CNN reported.  

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