Scotland to offer free sanitary products to all students

全球首例：苏格兰将为所有学生提供免费女性卫生用品

导读：

女性生理期健康长期以来都是一个虽然重要却总是被人刻意回避的话题。随着时代的发展，如今人们在面对这一敏感的话题时多了一份从容：从游泳名将傅园慧大方谈论生理期参赛，到 Angelababy 因为生理期录制《跑男》遭网友吐槽，我们明显感觉到了国内对这一话题态度的转变。无独有偶，近日，苏格兰政府承诺将为学生免费提供卫生用品，这项举措在保障女性生理期健康的同时还将有效地消除公众对于女性生理期认识的偏见。这项举措实施的背景是什么？实施过程是否顺利？让我们一起来看看今天英国《卫报》的新闻。

Students at schools, colleges and universities across Scotland will have access to free sanitary products as part of a £5.2m scheme to fight period poverty.

The Scottish government is the first in the world to make sanitary products available free to all of its 395, 000 pupils and students to help “banish the scourge of period poverty” - when girls and women struggle to pay for basic sanitary products on a monthly basis, significantly affecting their hygiene, health and wellbeing.

A recent survey of more than 2, 000 people by Young Scot found that one in four respondents at school, college or university in Scotland struggled to access sanitary products. Moreover, research by the grassroots group Women for Independence revealed nearly one in five women had experienced period poverty.

The Scottish government said it worked closely with partners including the Convention of Scottish Local Authorities (Cosla), Colleges Scotland, Universities Scotland and the Scottish Funding Council on the scheme.

The communities secretary, Aileen Campbell, said: “I am proud that Scotland is taking this world-leading action to fight period poverty and I welcome the support of local authorities, colleges and universities in implementing this initiative.”

Councillor Alison Evison, the president of Cosla, said while the primary aim of the scheme was to ensure no young person missed out on their education through a lack of access to sanitary products, “it will also contribute to a more open conversation and reducing the unnecessary stigma associated with periods”.

useful expressions:

have access to 有权享有

free sanitary products  免费卫生用品

as part of  作为...的一部分

fight period poverty  对抗月经期贫困

struggle to  为...抗争

one in four   四分之一

taking this world-leading action  采取世界领导的行动

primary aim  主要目标

相关词汇

sanitary pads / napkins / towels 卫生巾
tampons 月经棉条
menstrual cups 月事杯
cloth pads 月经布垫
pads with wings 有翼的卫生巾
cotton oversheet 棉质网面
silky dry cover 丝质干爽网面
pantyliners 护垫
ultra-thin 超薄
daytime use 日用
overnight use 夜用

参考译文：

作为耗资 520 万英镑的对抗月经贫穷计划的一部分，苏格兰各级学校的学生都将得到免费的女性卫生用品。

苏格兰政府是世界上第一个让全体三十九万五千名学生都用上免费卫生用品的政府，以此帮助“消除月经贫穷的灾难”——月经贫穷指女性难以承担每月基本的生理用品，她们的卫生、健康和幸福因而受到很大的影响。

一份来自“年轻苏格兰人”针对 2000 多人的近期调查显示，在苏格兰各级学校中，有四分之一的受访者无法轻易得到生理用品。不仅如此，一份来自基层组织“独立女性”的研究显示，近五分之一的女性曾经经历过月经贫穷。

苏格兰政府称其正与一些合作伙伴就此计划开展密切合作，包括苏格兰地方当局公约（简称 Cosla），苏格兰学院联盟，苏格兰大学联盟和苏格兰基金委员会。

主管社区的内阁秘书艾琳·坎贝尔表示：“我对苏格兰正在采取世界领先的对抗月经贫穷的行动感到骄傲。我也欢迎来自地方当局、学院和大学对于实施这项倡议的支持。”

苏格兰地方政府公约协会主席，艾莉森·埃维森议员则表示，虽然该计划的初衷是保证没有年轻人由于缺乏获得卫生用品的渠道而错失教育机会，“该计划也会有助于更加坦诚公开的对话，并且减轻与经期绑定在一起的不必要的耻辱感。”