Real Weddings: Kelly and Sean’s show-stopping wedding in Co Kerry
Real Weddings: Kelly and Sean’s show-stopping wedding in Co Kerry

Shayna Healy

WIN a bundle of Max Benjamin wall fragrance diffusers worth €165
WIN a bundle of Max Benjamin wall fragrance diffusers worth €165

Megan Burns

If networking is a super power then Mary McKenna deserves a cape
If networking is a super power then Mary McKenna deserves a cape

Fiona Alston

The sunglasses team IMAGE are reaching for this summer
The sunglasses team IMAGE are reaching for this summer

Sarah Gill

Page Turners: ‘Assembling Ailish’ author Sharon Guard
Page Turners: ‘Assembling Ailish’ author Sharon Guard

Sarah Gill

A seafront Skerries home has been given a luxe update with rich colours and hotel-inspired details
A seafront Skerries home has been given a luxe update with rich colours and hotel-inspired...

Megan Burns

Calling all Irish entrepreneurs: The Pitch 2025 is open for applications
Calling all Irish entrepreneurs: The Pitch 2025 is open for applications

IMAGE

Money moves: Smart financial strategies for every chapter of your life
Money moves: Smart financial strategies for every chapter of your life

IMAGE

Tried and tested: the world’s most powerful cordless stick vacuum cleaner
Tried and tested: the world’s most powerful cordless stick vacuum cleaner

Megan Burns

WIN a three-course dinner for two with Champagne at Forbes Street by Gareth Mullins
WIN a three-course dinner for two with Champagne at Forbes Street by Gareth Mullins

IMAGE

Image / Agenda / Breaking Stories

Scottish politicians vote on universal access to period products today: here’s why it matters


By Megan Burns
24th Nov 2020
Scottish politicians vote on universal access to period products today: here’s why it matters

MSPs will vote today on whether to provide free sanitary products in public buildings, which could see Scotland become the first country in the world to do so — an important move against period poverty. 


Scotland could become the first country in the world to provide universal access to period products today, as MSPs are set to vote on the Period Products Bill, which if passed, would introduce a legal right of free access to sanitary products in public buildings.

The Bill has been brought forward by Scottish Labour MSP Monica Lennon, who said, “We are in the final miles of a long journey and I am heartened by the support for the Period Products Bill. I am optimistic that we will complete that ground breaking journey today. Scotland will not be the last country to make period poverty history – but it now has a chance to be the first. This law will ensure no-one has to go without essential period products.”

It’s a move that seeks to address the problem of period poverty, where people who menstruate aren’t able to afford period products, which is as much of an issue in Ireland as it is in Scotland.

In 2018, an Irish survey found that half of girls between 12 and 19 said that they had experienced issues paying for sanitary products, which can see them miss school when they’re on their period. Those in low income families, direct provision centres, women’s refuges and homeless women are also particularly affected by period poverty.

https://www.facebook.com/homelessperiodIreland/photos/1031553090615918

Campaigners point out that like toilet paper, which is provided without question in all public bathrooms, period products are not a luxury, they are just as essential.

Pads and tampons currently have a zero per cent VAT rate in Ireland (although menstrual cups are not included in this), and Dublin City Council has provided free period products in its buildings since last year, but this is not enough for many who are suffering from period poverty.

Organisations such as The Homeless Period Ireland are campaigning for more action, such as providing products in schools and colleges, while also helping to distribute period products to women who need them. The pandemic has made it harder for them to receive donations of products, but you can buy products to give to them online here, or learn more about what the organisation does on their facebook page.

Featured image: Karolina Grabowska via Pexels


Read more: What advertising teaches us about periods

Read more: Here’s our ULTIMATE guide to sustainable period products (that really work)

Read more: Lena Dunham has spoken about her IVF experience in a personal essay