Scotland’s North Ayrshire Council has become the first local authority in Britain to provide free sanitary provision in public buildings, hoping to tackle “period poverty”.
The council said on Friday women and girls would be given free sanitary towels and tampons via vending machines in toilets in public premises, extending a service already available in secondary schools in the council region.
Studies show period poverty is a particularly acute problem in Scotland. Girls’ rights charity Plan International UK found 45 percent of respondents were obliged to use makeshift sanitary wear, with some women reduced to using newspapers and socks.
Source: Reuters
