Students In This Country Get Tampons for Free

Good news for female students in Scotland: All your pads and tampons will now be free, the Guardian reports. The Scottish government has allocated $6.7 million to pay for the sanitary products of some 395,000 school, college, and university students—an effort to banish what's called "period poverty," when they can't afford such products and see their hygiene and health suffer as a result. A survey found that some Scottish women were going to desperate lengths, like using newspapers or old clothes when they couldn't afford pads or tampons, per the Guardian. "After all, periods are not exempt from poverty—they don’t take account of what is in your pocket or purse," an official told the Scotsman earlier this month. (More tampon stories.)