首个为女性免费提供卫生用品的国家

Another reason to visit and love Scotland: yesterday the country’s parliament voted almost unanimously to make women’s sanitary products freely available. Scottish women will be able to pick up tampons and pads at places like pharmacies and community centers.

我们又有了一个去苏格兰旅游并爱上它的理由：昨天该国议会投票，几乎全票通过为女性免费提供卫生用品。苏格兰的女人们将能够在药房和社区中心等地领取卫生棉条和卫生巾。

The Period Products (Free Provision) Scotland bill, which is expected to pass through its remaining legislative hurdles, is a “real signal to people in this country about how seriously parliament takes gender equality,” said the bill’s proposer, parliament member Monica Lennon. Two years ago, Scotland began providing free sanitary products to schools and universities.

《苏格兰(免费提供)经期用品法案》的提议者同时也是议会成员的Monica Lennon说，预计这项法案能通过剩余的立法障碍，它是“给该国人民传递的真实信号，体现议会认真对待两性平等”。两年前，苏格兰开始为学校和大学免费提供卫生用品。

Women typically spend over $2000 on sanitary products. A 2018 survey by Young Scot found that a quarter of young women struggled to afford sanitary products, a common scenario known as “period poverty.”

女性卫生用品的花销通常超过2000美元。2018年Young Scot(青年信息慈善机构)进行的调查发现四分之一的年轻女性买不起卫生用品，这种情况很常见，被称为“经期贫困”。

Tampon and pad prices have long been a political issue in the U.K. due to the so-called Tampon Tax, the 5% tax rate on sanitary products, a rate set by the EU.

英国有所谓的“卫生棉条税”，所以卫生棉条和卫生巾的价格一直都是政治问题。欧盟制定的卫生用品的税率是5%。