In an effort to end “period poverty,” the Scottish Parliament on Tuesday moved Scotland a step closer to becoming the first country in the world to to provide free sanitary pads and tampons in public places. [2/27/20]— Global Awareness 101 (@Mononoke__Hime) February 28, 2020
https://t.co/GbdstN9blF
Voice of America, VOA News
written by Peyton Bigora
Thursday February 27, 2020
In an effort to end “period poverty,” the Scottish Parliament on Tuesday moved Scotland a step closer to becoming the first country in the world to to provide free sanitary pads and tampons in public places.
The Period Products (Free Provision) (Scotland) Bill passed 112-0, with one abstention. If the bill moves past the second phase, where legislators propose amendments, free menstrual products will be available in places such as pharmacies, community centers and youth clubs.
Menstrual products are currently taxed as luxury items.
The cost of the legislation is estimated to be $31 million a year. Scotland has already made strides in ending the 5% “tampon tax.”
wth? 5% tampon tax? That's crazy. (emphasis mine)
In 2018, the country created a national policy that ensured free pads and tampons in schools and universities. The European Union plans to remove a sales tax on menstrual products by 2022 and let individual countries decide the prices.
“(This) is a milestone moment for normalizing menstruation in Scotland, and sending out that real signal to people in this country about how seriously parliament takes gender equality,” the bill's sponsor, Monica Lennon, said during Parliament’s debate. “We are changing the culture, and it’s really exciting that other countries right around the world are watching very closely to see what we do.”
Okay. I was really curious as to why Scotland would charge a 5% tampon tax in the first place. I found this article below from 2018 celebrating Scotland's first step of guaranteeing free sanitary products at schools, colleges and universities. Apparently, New York state also had a tax on sanitary products that they eliminated in 2016. I'm still looking for information why these Socialist would charge a tampon tax to begin with. (emphasis mine)
Quartz News
written by Jenni Avins
August 25, 2018
This week, Scotland became the first nation in the world to guarantee free sanitary products to all students at schools, colleges, and universities. It’s part of a £5.2 million ($6.7 million) government plan to fight “period poverty”—the problems faced by women who struggle to cover their basic needs while menstruating.
That Scotland has taken the initiative to do so, particularly in light of a recent survey that showed one in five Scottish women has trouble affording sanitary menstruation products, is commendable. That it’s the first government to take this sort of action is, frankly, appalling.
“In a country as rich as Scotland it’s unacceptable that anyone should struggle to buy basic sanitary products,” said Scotland’s communities secretary Aileen Campbell, according to the Guardian. Which raises the question: What on earth is wrong with the rest of us?
The unfortunate answer can only be sexism, and by extension, squeamishness.
Let’s be real. If society has managed to accept the fact that everyone poops—and accordingly provide free toilet paper in schools, workplaces, public toilets, and even prisons—we should be able to publicly acknowledge that at any given time, roughly 300 million women are menstruating. Pads and tampons aren’t optional products; they’re a basic necessity.
There is some progress on that front. In 2016, shortly after New York state eliminated the tax on feminine hygiene products (as officials in the UK and Australia had also voted to do), the New York City council voted unanimously to distribute free tampons and sanitary pads in the city’s schools, shelters, and jails, as Quartz’s Annalisa Merelli reported. More evolved private workplaces also provide free sanitary products to employees the way they might say, seltzer or coffee. (In 2015, I publicly commended my employer for exactly this behavior.)
It’s difficult to imagine a workplace charging a bleeding employee for a Band-Aid, or installing a box around toilet paper charging for its use. And yet, just yesterday I found myself at at the Los Angeles headquarters of a global firm recently named one of the “Most Innovative Companies” of 2018. In the women’s bathroom, a machine proffered tampons and pads—for 25 cents a piece.
Menstruating women in need shouldn’t feel shame. The decision-makers who fail to take care of them should.
Found it. I see now. The Marxist Socialists force the general public to pay for private charities of the governments choosing by way of a VAT tax. I share how a VAT tax is collected by the government below. This is one way Marxist Socialists spread the wealth. The other way is through welfare. Although, the tax money collected will typically go to non-profit organizations that favor the Marxist Socialist government. Like in Los Angeles county, USA, they have banned contracts with non-profit organizations that have anyone in their organization who are members of the NRA. I know about this because I am a member of the NRA and I wanted to contract with LA county to pick up garbage along streets and highways to keep our city clean and beautiful. But I'm being discriminated against because I am a member of the NRA. Hear is an article for you to read from the LA Times 2/12/19: To do business with L.A., city contractors now must disclose ties with the NRA So, basically, I'm being PUNISHED and unable to earn money working for a cause I'm passionate about because I am a member of the NRA a non-profit organization the Marxist Socialist government does not agree with.
One last point about the Socialist government spreading the wealth to non-profit charities that favor them. Voters in Los Angles County have agreed to give the local government billions of tax dollars to be applied to combat the homeless crisis in our communities. Well, that tax money is being allocated to private non-profit organizations that were created specifically to help the homeless. Millions of tax dollars are being handed to them and I bet you, only a small percentage of that money is being used for the homeless charitable cause. Anyone willing to investigate? Our city streets and even freeways are still covered with homeless camps making it feel as if we were living in a third world nation. A few billion is a heck of a lot of money to not have the homeless crisis solved.Per Investopedia: A value-added tax (VAT) is a consumption tax levied on products at every point of sale where value has been added, starting from raw materials and going all the way to the final retail purchase. Ultimately, the consumer pays the VAT; buyers at earlier stages of production receive reimbursements for the previous VAT they've paid.VAT is commonly expressed as a percentage of the total cost. For example, if a product costs $100 and there is a 15% VAT, the consumer pays $115 to the merchant. The merchant keeps $100 and remits $15 to the government.A VAT system is often confused with a national sales tax. With a sales tax, the tax is only collected once—at the final point of purchase by a consumer—and so only the retail customer ever pays it. The VAT system is invoice-based and collected at several points throughout an item's production, each time value is added and a sale is made. Every seller in the production chain charges a VAT tax to the buyer, which it then remits to the government. The amount of tax levied at each sale along the chain is based on the value added by the latest seller.
(emphasis mine)
(source: UK Department for Digital, Culture Media and Sport PDF doc)
Introduction
The purpose of the Tampon Tax Fund is to allocate the funds generated from the VAT on sanitary products to projects that improve the lives of disadvantaged women and girls. The fund was announced by the then Chancellor during the 2015 Autumn Statement: “There are many great charities that work to support vulnerable women. And my Honorable Friend, the new Member for Colchester, has proposed to me a brilliant way to give them more help. 300,000 people have signed a petition arguing that no VAT should be charged on sanitary products. We already charge the lowest 5% rate allowable under European law and we’re committed to getting the EU rules changed. Until that happens, I’m going to use the £15 million a year raised from the Tampon Tax to fund women’s health and support charities”.
The launch of this round of funding demonstrates the Government’s continued commitment to ensuring that the VAT received from sanitary products is used to support vulnerable and underrepresented women and girls.
This guide introduces the next round of Tampon Tax Funding and provides details of how to apply.
This funding round is inviting charitable, benevolent and philanthropic organisations from across the United Kingdom to bid into one of four categories: violence against women and girls, female homelessness and rough sleeping, women in music, and a general program. The criteria for each category can be found below.
Applications should be for £1 million or more and be from organisations that can deliver impact across their chosen category and across multiple regions in one or more of England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland. Applications are welcomed from individual organisations or formal consortia with an identified lead organisation. We are particularly interested in receiving applications from organisations whose projects include (as a way of utilizing existing expertise in the sector, increasing geographical reach, and improving impact) making onward grants to other charitable organisations. This year, we welcome applications which aim to use tampon tax funding to leverage additional resources, and therefore include an element of match funding.
Notes:
● this fund is open to charitable, benevolent and philanthropic organisations from across the United
Kingdom;
● grants may be for 1 or 2 year projects;
● all activities must be concluded and funds must be spent by 31st March 2021;
● the value of the grant requested in each financial year must not represent more than 50% of the
applicant organisation’s, or consortia’s collective, annual income for that financial year;
● where applicable, bids must include details of arrangements for safeguarding children and
vulnerable adults as part of their planned activities.
Successful applicants will be informed in Spring 2019. We expect individual grant agreements will be finalized with successful applicants by Summer 2019. Exact timing will vary on a case by case basis
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