THE SNP MSP behind a campaign to make Scotland the first country in the world to give women and girls access to free sanitary products has welcomed fresh backing from Scottish trade unionists.

Aberdeenshire East MSP Gillian Martin and the SNP’s Political Education Officer Julie Hepburn mooted the idea of an "S-Card" at last May’s SNP National Council which decides party policy, and the resolution was passed unanimously.

The politician revealed earlier this month in The National that Scotland’s Cabinet Secretary for Communities, Social Security and Equalities, Angela Constance, is investigating plans for an S-card, which would allow women free access to sanitary products, after a meeting with her.

Growing concern about the risks to the health and education of women and girls who cannot afford sanitary products has prompted the move.

The card could be handed into a local pharmacy, supermarket, GP practice or other providers. Martin believes it should be available to all and not means tested.

She told The National she had been given a commitment by the Scottish Government that all potential methods and solutions would be fully researched.

Now Martin has welcomed support from the Scottish Trade Union Congress (STUC) who passed a motion backing the ‘Homeless Period’ campaign. It aims to ensure sanitary products are made available to homeless shelters by the Scottish Government. The motion had been put forward by the Chartered Society of Physiotherapy in Scotland.

Martin said: “I have been working with the Cabinet Secretary on this issue and I am pleased the Scottish Trade Union Congress has also echoed my call to support what is a basic right for women.

“Supporting homeless women and allowing them access to sanitary products is a basic dignity. Poverty is the main reason certain women and girls cannot access period products but there are other barriers like domestic abuse and coercive control where a woman may not have access to her own money, or is stopped from accessing the products she needs.

“Personally I think access to period products is a basic right and I would like to see how we can achieve that in Scotland with the powers and levers we have.”

The STUC also called on the Scottish Government to undertake a review on the affordability of feminine hygiene products in Scotland and introduce measures to address the inequality of access to sanitary products for women and girls in Scotland.

UNISON’s Kate Ramsden recalled 10 years ago when Thabitha Khumalo of the Zimbabwe Congress of Trade Unions addressed the UNISON Conference asking for support for Dignity Period, a charity set up to provide sanitary wear for women in Zimbabwe.

“But it is an ongoing issue not just in the developing world but here in the UK. I am just as appalled at the indignity and the health implications of women and girls across the UK,” she said.