A PLAN to make Scotland the first country to end “period poverty” by giving out free sanitary products will be hard to reject because of growing international interest, its author has said.

Labour MSP Monica Lennon said the world was already watching and “keeping the Scottish Government on its toes” as she published her proposed member’s bill at Holyrood.

Launching a four-month public consultation, Ms Lennon said the legislation would put a duty on Scottish ministers to introduce a universal system of free sanitary product provision.

There would also be a duty on all schools, colleges and universities to provide free sanitary products in their toilets, with a potential extension to other public bodies after a review.

An analysis by the Scottish Parliament’s independent information centre estimated the cost at around £2.2m a year for each 10 per cent of the population using the products.

Tampons, towels and menstrual cups would all be available.

Mr Lennon drew a comparison with an existing health protection scheme giving out free condoms, the C-card, which has a take up rate of around 20 per cent among men.

However she said this was “very modest”, suggesting costs of more than £4.4m a year for her own proposal.

The idea already has the support of the EIS, Scotland’s biggest teaching union, Scotland’s Children and Young People’s Commissioner; NUS Scotland, Women’s Aid; and the Trussell Trust, which gives out some sanitary products through its network of foodbanks.

Ms Lennon, Labour's inequalities spokeswoman at Holyrood, said: “Periods don't take into account what you have in your purse or your pocket. They happen when you're at work, in the classroom and that gym class you've been avoiding.

“Periods can occur at any time or any place, whether you're 10 years old or 50 years old.

"Period poverty is a global crisis, but it's a problem here in Scotland too. Period poverty isn't new but it isn't going away. That's why I am proposing a change in the law to tackle it.

"The hard work really begins now, the last year has just been a warm up to this.

"If people feel like Scotland is doing this already and the world is watching, if we just keep that pressure up, I think it's going to be very hard for MSP colleagues to say no."

She said the scheme should also reduce the cases of life-threatening toxic shock caused by using a tampon too long.

EIS president Nicola Fisher said problems getting sanitary products meant some girls stayed home and missed lessons during their periods, and many felt embarrassed by menstruation.

She said: “We are supposed to be closing the attainment gap and it's one more barrier to that happening. This is a gender issue and it is a poverty issue and we must tackle it.

“The tentacles of poverty wind through and round a person's life in many invisible and unimaginable ways. This is one more and we have to put a stop to it."

The Church of Scotland also welcomed the proposal.

Rev Jane Howitt, minister of St Rollox Church of Scotland in Glasgow, said: “No woman should be having to decide whether or not she can afford her monthly period.

“For the last few years at St Rollox, we have been including sanitary and hygiene products in the food parcels we give to destitute asylum seekers and to others who use our foodstore

“When you are living on £35 a week spending up to £8 of that on sanitary products in the week of your period is almost 25 per cent of that week's allowance.

“Any measure to relieve this type of poverty is surely to be supported.”

The Scottish Government last month announced a six-month pilot project distributing free sanitary products to around 1000 women and girls in low-income homes in Aberdeen.

SNP Communities Secretary Angela Constance said: "It is unacceptable for any girl or woman not to have access to sanitary products.

“We are exploring how to make these products freely available and have backed a pilot project in Aberdeen to help develop a sensitive and dignified solution to this issue.

"I welcome Monica Lennon's work on access to sanitary products and will be happy to engage further with her as we look at what more can be done to tackle the issue."