Scotland becomes the world’s first country to provide free menstrual products

Scotland will make period products free in public facilities, becoming the first country in the world to do so, BBC News reported.

The Period Products Act, which passed unanimously in 2020, went into law on Monday. The law requires that public buildings, including schools and universities, provide period products such as tampons and pads for free, according to CNN.

“Local authorities and partner organisations have worked hard to make the legal right to access free period products a reality,” Scottish lawmaker Monica Lennon said, per BBC. “As the cost-of-living crisis takes hold, the Period Products Act is a beacon of hope.”

The law states that local authorities and education providers are to ensure period products are “obtainable free of charge” for those who need them.

The law is also written in gender-neutral language, PinkNews reports, and, according to an explanatory note attached to the Act, it “applies to transgender and non-binary people who menstruate, and not just to women and girls.”

The Period Products Act is one part of a series of programs in Scotland aiming to to end period poverty, per CNN.