The Emergence of ‘Menstrual Legislation’ in Europe: A Critical, Comparative Analysis of the Recent Scottish and Spanish Legislations

This article analyses the emergence of "menstrual legislation" in Europe, with a focus on recent legislative developments in Scotland and Spain, which have both been frontrunners in this area. In 2021, Scotland recognised free access to menstrual products as a universal right in the Period Products (Free provision) Act. In 2023, Spain adopted a comprehensive law, which grants menstrual leave in the workplace, and requires increased information, access to health care, education and research on menstruation. The goal of this article is to examine the extent to which countries can/should look at the Scottish and Spanish legislations as models of legislation on which they can rely for the development of future legislation within the field of menstrual health. To this end, this commentary identifies the benefits, pitfalls, and gaps of the Scottish and Spanish legislations in light of the recent definition of menstrual health, and analyses them from a comparative legal perspective.