A local council in north Scotland is planning to give away free tampons in public buildings to help fight "period poverty".
Ayshire Council will make the sanitary items available via vending machines in bathrooms, which are already available in high schools. They'll be the first local council in Britain to do so.
According to charity Plan International UK, period poverty is a major issue in Scotland. It found in a survey that 45 percent of women had to use makeshift sanitary wear, in some cases made from newspaper and socks.
One in 10 women across Britain are affected by the cost of sanitary items, Reuters reports.
Gabby Edlin, CEO of charity Bloody Good Period, said part of the issue is not having the openness in society to talk about it freely.
"If it isn't a subject that people talk about, and then it isn't something girls can simply ask for," she told Reuters.
In New Zealand, supermarket Countdown announced it would reduce the prices of its menstrual products to help make them more affordable.
"Let's do something to ensure these women are able to be supported because we cannot have people who are impoverished literally walking around with wads of toilet paper stuck between their legs all day," former Māori Party leader Marama Fox told RadioLIVE at the time.
Legislation is currently in front of Scotland's parliament that could see the implementation of free sanitary products across the whole country.
Newshub.
