The Scottish Government has made a commitment to provide free sanitary products in schools, colleges, and universities in time for the upcoming academic year.

 

A bill was lodged by Monica Lennon MSP in 2017 which was passed earlier this year and will see a funding allocation made to institutions who will then have the responsibility to make the provision available across their campuses.

 

There has been a collaborative effort between NUS and the students’ unions across Scotland to push for sanitary product funding to be in place for August 2018. Strath Union has been at the forefront of this initiative and was one of the first students’ unions to make sanitary products available in the Advice Hub. In the last year, this has been extended and sanitary products are now available in the female and gender neutral toilets throughout the Union.

 

Taylor Wong, VP Diversity, is part of the University working group for this project and is looking forward to its implementation and development.

“A period is not something to be ashamed of, it should not put financial constraints on anyone and should not be a source of worry. The Union advocates educational advancement and we believe that normalising and fighting for free sanitary products for all our students is a big step in breaking down barriers on female participation.”