Councils and education providers in Scotland are now legally required to make period products available free of charge – the first country in the world to do so.
The Scottish government has spent more than £27m to fund free access to period products in a range of public settings since 2017. It believes the new Period Products (Free Provision) (Scotland) Act, introduced in August, will cement the progress it has already made in this area.
Social Justice Secretary Shona Robison said: ‘This [legislation] is more important than ever at a time when people are making difficult choices due to the cost of living crisis.
‘Since 2018, we have delivered ground-breaking action by providing free period products for pupils and students in all our schools, colleges and universities. We are proud to be the first national government in the world to take such action.’
People can find their nearest collection point through the PickupMyPeriod mobile app, which was launched earlier this year by social enterprise Hey Girls with Scottish government support.
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