Despite being an existing issue since the beginning of time, it took several months of debating by individuals and members of parliament before the landmark ruling on period poverty was finally considered in the Scottish Parliament in 2017.

The year 2018 marked a remarkable achievement for Scotland in satisfying fundamental women’s rights as it became the first country in the world which granted access to free sanitary products for students. As described by Communities Secretary Aileen Campbell: “Being able to access free sanitary products is fundamental to equality and human dignity”.

However, currently free period products are only supplied under voluntary schemes which is why this year, Labour MSP Monica Lennon officially lodged the Period Products (Free Provision) (Scotland) Bill. This Bill aimed to make it a statutory requirement for schools, colleges and universities to provide free access to such sanitary products. How would this impact Scotland? Lennon has supported her reason for bringing this Bill into parliament by stating how this not only gives a chance for Scotland to “put access on a legal footing” but also to potentially lead the rest of the world in introducing similar laws.

In order to maintain current free provision, an investment of £5.5 million was made by the Scottish Government with local authorities receiving an additional £2 million and universities attaining up to £3.5 million in funding.

This proposed Bill aims to tackle the underlying stigma with addressing gender equality and “dignity issues” regardless of people’s income and will bring about many positive effects in Scotland. Sanitary products have been debated to be a “necessity for a very large part of a woman’s life” as opposed to the historic view of it being treated as a luxury product. Therefore, if implemented, the access to free period products becoming statutory will “scourge period poverty” and help reduce the current basic right imbalance.