Our joint event with GENDER.ED on menstrual justice since the Period Products Act on Thursday 25 May was a great success. We are especially grateful that Monica Lennon MSP was able to join the panel at short notice. Since the event, organiser and current Fellow Professor Marcy Karin's research into the Act and other legal approaches to overcoming structural barriers related to the menstrual cycle has been featured in The National.
“The Period Products Act deserves its reputation as ground-breaking legislation. It brought menstruation into the public discourse and kick-started a conversation about how laws may be necessary to remove existing structural barriers related to the menstrual cycle from menarche through menopause. This is not a small thing—having Scottish lawmakers, media, and the community talk about periods matters.”
Karin also stresses the need to address the current postcode lottery [regarding access to period products]. “Flexibility is important,” she acknowledges. “But people who live in the islands or rural Scotland should have the same access to products as those that live in Edinburgh. If the law is meant to provide a universal right, access to products should not be different depending on where one lives or works.”
The law has no enforcement process if councils fail to fulfil their obligations, and no opportunity to appeal how choices are made. Without those mechanisms and with limited transparency, people can end up with different levels of access to products, Karin warns.
You can read the full article here.