LONDON — Scotland gained worldwide praise when it passed a pioneering period act, making tampons and pads free by law and instructing schools to make them available in every building. One region even instituted a “period dignity officer.”
Then the role was given to a man.
The appointment of Jason Grant, a former personal trainer, as the coordinator of the menstruation dignity plan in Scotland’s Tayside region, north of Edinburgh, led to bewilderment and widespread criticism. On Monday, the role was scrapped.
“Given the threats and abuse leveled at individuals in recent weeks, the period dignity regional lead officer role will not continue,” a spokeswoman for the Period Dignity Working Group, the team in charge of the initiative, said in a statement.
Mr. Grant was hired earlier this summer. The job was heralded as the first of its kind in Scotland when it was announced, and his duties were to include leading a campaign across schools, colleges and the region to raise awareness and understanding of Scotland’s Period Act. The groundbreaking bill came into effect in August, making it compulsory for local authorities and schools to make period items available free of charge.
Free tampons and pads had been largely available in different parts of the country, but Scotland is the first country to have a law requiring universal free access.
The law did not specifically provide for a role as a “period dignity officer,” but it stated that local authorities could appoint an individual to carry out the duties required by the bill. The role, with a salary of around $40,000 a year, was created by a group of colleges and local authorities in Tayside, as part of a project funded by the Scottish government.