The case of Scotland and free feminine hygiene products: "Unfortunately in Spain it is still a taboo"

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In Spain, feminine hygiene products are taxed with a reduced VAT of 10%, outside the group of basic necessities, for which we pay 4%.

Thus,

are in two different categories, both being equally necessary for a woman.

A few months ago, the Ministry of Equality included the lowering of the tax rate of these products within the reform of the abortion law, but the initiative fell by the wayside.

At least for now.

The reason put forward by Minister Irene Montero for proposing this measure was to alleviate what has been called

, which limits access to items such as pads and tampons for women in a

situation .

But in matters of money, in general, and VAT, in particular, good intentions alone are not enough.

The accounts have to balance and, in this case, the Ministry of Finance put the brakes on, leaving the Equality proposal fallow until next year's General State Budgets.

Now that María Jesús Montero, minister of the branch, is negotiating the numbers for 2023, she said at the beginning of August in an interview with the EFE Agency: "I do not rule out that some measures can be incorporated", and specifically alluded to the

for feminine intimate hygiene products.

Perhaps the recent announcement by

, which has become the

to all women, will serve as a spur to other states, including Spain.

The law was approved in 2020, but it is only now that it has come into force.

This was advanced by Nicola Sturgeon, chief minister of Scotland, almost two years ago:

What is "menstrual poverty"?

According to a study promoted by Zero Waste Europe and echoed by the feminine hygiene product company Intimina, a woman can spend, throughout her life, around

(pads and tampons).

A team from the Jordi Gol i Gurina University Institute for Research in Primary Care (IDIAPJGol) has recently carried out the

, with the aim of finding out whether or not there is menstrual poverty in our country.

This is the first fruit of a line of research initiated on related topics that will continue.

Based on their data, with almost 23,000 surveys conducted in 2021, up to

at some point in their lives for financial reasons.

In addition,

because they could not afford it.

Dr. Laura Medina Perucha, researcher of the study, explains that these data may be surprising because we do not link social inequality with countries of the Global North, but "according to the INE, 27% and 27.8% of the population in Spain was in a situation of risk of poverty or social exclusion in 2020 and 2021 respectively. 8.5% (2020) and 8.3% (2021) were in a situation of

."

She and she adds: "These data, as well as the job and economic insecurity in Spain, help us to contextualize and understand the data on menstrual poverty that we have obtained."

Medina affirms that when there are economic problems in accessing menstrual products, women resort to alternatives such as "

, etc.", or to overuse items to use less quantity.

"This is important information since prolonged use can have important health consequences," she explains.

'Political will is lacking'

Cristina Rubio

is a spokesperson for the

association for a dignified menstruation and considers that the VAT reduction on pads, tampons and other menstrual products (whose cost is estimated at 30 million euros) is a perfectly viable measure: "The only thing that is needed it is political will. Unfortunately it is still a taboo to talk about menstruation, so it

"We need a 'Monica Lennon' [member of the Scottish Labor Party] who pressures from within, because the associations, although we continue to fight, have presented thousands of signatures and manifestos to Congress to demand menstrual rights and they have not listened to us, we have not even managed to that VAT be lowered to 4%, despite the promises of the '

", she protests, and points out that products such as

Rubio confirms that menstrual poverty exists in Spain: "As a consequence, some resort to

to absorb the blood. Others have to choose between buying sanitary pads or food. And many students stop going to school or institute when menstruate because they don't have anything to wear.

In his opinion, it is not admissible that it be a reason for school or academic absenteeism, for which he calls for measures such as those in

."

"Fundamental rights such as education, health and dignity are being violated," she adds.

With regard to Spain, the Amba spokeswoman values ​​some signs of change: "The Generalitat de Catalunya has taken a step forward and has launched a pilot project for Menstrual Equity, with which it is planned to distribute reusable menstrual products (

) among ESO students and give training workshops on the menstrual cycle to all students. We hope that other communities take note", ditch.

Lower taxes or "coffee for all"

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Eduardo Irastorza

, professor at OBS Business School and marketing expert, considers that the Scottish measure, which does not discriminate according to the situation of women and, therefore, reaches all of them, is a "café for all" that in politics it is used to look good in front of the gallery.

"These initiatives usually have a very strong

and are taken out when appropriate. In this case, it may be that Scotland wants to distance itself from British politics," he says.

Irastorza also believes that generalized measures do not address more important issues: "So we are left with the anecdote and the salary gap is not questioned, for example."

Gratuity for all or a VAT reduction on any product is not the best alternative, according to your criteria.

This expert believes that the State could help vulnerable groups more efficiently through the tools offered by Big Data, since "it knows perfectly well what we earn and what we spend. It knows it better than anyone, in fact".

"The Administration should work like the big companies,

, who know their customers perfectly, but instead, general and very unsophisticated measures are preferred", he laments.

Cristina Rubio, on the other hand, believes that lower taxes or free feminine hygiene products and help for vulnerable groups do not have to be incompatible.

"The reduction of VAT to super-reduced is a measure that involves considering these items as

. We do not choose to menstruate, that is why it is a matter of justice," she says.

What are other countries doing about it?

Dr. Laura Medina Perucha explains that

was the first country in the world to initiate policies to improve economic access to menstrual products almost 20 years ago, eliminating taxes in 2004. "Other countries have joined these similar initiatives, such as

, menstrual policies are being debated," she concludes.

In the European Union, since 2007 each country is free to tax these products with the taxes they consider.

Thus,

has applied a super-reduced VAT rate of

to tampons, pads and menstrual cups since 2015.

stopped considering these luxury items in 2020, thanks to popular pressure, and has since considered them essential items, lowering them from 19% to

.

Italy, for its part, lowered VAT earlier this year from 22% to 10%.

Among the EU countries with the highest rates,

(27%) and

(23%) stand out.

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