從1月1日起，英國將不再對月經用品徵收5%的增值稅。據美國有線電視新聞網1月2日報導，英國財政大臣蘇納克表示，「我很自豪，我們兌現了廢除月經用品稅的承諾。衛生用品是必需品，不徵收增值稅是正確的。」
多年來，活動人士一直呼籲廢除該稅，認為將這些用品視為非必需品甚至奢侈品的做法具有「男性至上主義」色彩且已「過時」。
不過，英國政府表示，該政策只有在英國脫歐過渡期結束後才可能正式實行，因為歐盟將這些產品視為非日常必需品而強制徵收5%的增值稅。英國廣播公司報導稱，其實歐盟一直在考慮廢除月經用品的增值稅，並且已於2018年公布改變增值稅規則的建議，允許有關成員國停止徵收，但該建議並未得到歐盟全體成員國的認同。去年，德國將此類用品歸為日常必需品，並承諾降低稅率。目前除英國外，全球還有16個國家和地區廢除了這種稅，包括愛爾蘭、印度、澳大利亞、加拿大、坦尚尼亞等地。（王會聰）
印度取消衛生巾稅，這還要感謝寶萊塢「護墊俠」
India scraps controversial tax on sanitary pads
印度政府21日宣布對衛生巾不再徵收12%的消費稅。一些女性權益保護團體估算，印度有大約80%的女性無力負擔或者難以購得衛生用品。免稅舉措將幫助更多女性安然度過每個月的特殊日子，走進學校和職場。
Sanitary pads are now tax-free in India.
衛生巾在印度免稅了。
The Indian government has decided to scrap a controversial 12% tax on the feminine hygiene products, it announced late Saturday, marking a victory for campaigners who have lobbied against the tax for more than a year.
印度政府周六晚間宣布，廢除對女性衛生產品徵收的12％稅收，這一稅收之前就備受爭議。這標誌著反對這項稅收的活動人士一年多來的遊說取得了勝利。
"[The country's] sisters and mothers will be happy to hear that sanitary pads have been given a 100% exemption and brought down to a tax rate of zero," the country's acting finance minister Piyush Goyal told reporters. "Now there will be no [tax] on sanitary pads."
印度代理財政部長皮尤什-戈亞爾告訴記者說：「所有女性聽到衛生巾現在100%免稅，稅率為零的消息都會非常開心。以後衛生巾都不再收稅了。」
Activists say removing the tax on pads tackles one of the biggest barriers to education for girls, who are often forced to stay at home due to a lack of access to clean hygiene products, while also facing stigma and a lack of toilets in schools.
活動人士稱，取消衛生巾稅解決了女孩接受教育的一個最大障礙。由於缺少衛生用品，再加上學校缺少衛生間，不少女生經期都羞於出門，無法上學。
Periods are among the leading factors for girls to drop out of school in India, where four out of five women and girls are estimated by campaigners to have no access to sanitary pads.
經期不方便成為印度女孩輟學的主要因素之一。印度一些女性權益保護團體估算，印度全國大約80%的女性經期沒有衛生巾可用。
Last year, lawmaker Sushmita Dev launched a petition to demand a reduction or total removal of taxes on pads, citing that about 70 percent of women in India could not afford them.
去年，議員蘇什米塔-德夫發起請願，呼籲政府減免衛生巾稅，稱印度有70%的女性買不起衛生巾。
The online petition gained more than 400,000 signatures.
這次網上請願徵得超過40萬個籤名。
Dev thanked all her supporters in a tweet on Saturday, and also criticized the government for taking more than a year to remove the tax on sanitary pads.
倡導者德夫在周六的一條推文中感謝所有支持者，並批評政府花了一年多的時間才取消了這一稅收。
很多人將取消衛生巾稅與印度電影《護墊俠》聯繫在了一起。
Bollywood’s first film on menstrual hygiene 『Padman』, starring Akshay Kumar – one of Hindi cinema’s most popular action heroes – triggered debate over the taboo subject of menstrual hygiene in India after its release earlier this year.
今年年初，寶萊塢首部以經期衛生為主題的電影《護墊俠》上映。影片男主角阿克謝-庫瑪爾是印度最受歡迎的動作明星。這部電影引發了人們對印度女性經期衛生的熱議，在印度社會這個話題一直都是禁忌。
Kumar is at the forefront of a campaign by Niine Movement, an initiative promoting menstrual hygiene, to help increase the number of women using pads.
影片男主角阿克謝-庫瑪爾是Niine運動的領軍人士，這個團體宣傳經期衛生，倡導更多女性使用衛生巾。
電影《護墊俠》根據真實人物傳記改編，原型是一位印度的企業家，他發明了低成本的衛生巾生產機，為印度農村的經期衛生觀念帶來一場大變革。
電影在印度上映期間，低成本衛生巾生產機的創始人印度企業家Arunachalam Muruganantham在推特上發起了一項「護墊俠挑戰」，他說，「沒錯，我手裡拿著的是護墊，這沒什麼好羞愧的，月經是自然的生理反應。請複製粘貼這段話，向你們的朋友發起挑戰，拿起姨媽巾拍照吧！」，隨後眾多印度明星演員紛紛在推特上參與了這項活動，支持電影《護墊俠》。
Amar Tulsiyan, founder of Niine Movement, called Saturday’s decision 『a big win for everyone』 in India, where, he said, 82 percent women and girls have no access to sanitary pads.
Niine運動團體創建者阿馬爾-圖爾斯延說，印度政府取消衛生巾稅的消息是「屬於每個印度人的巨大勝利」。按他的說法，印度82%的女性無法使用衛生巾。
『The tax exemption is a massive boost,』 he said.
他說：「免稅舉措可謂巨大進步。」
Many Indians celebrated the new tax exemption on social media.
許多印度人在社交媒體上慶祝新的免稅政策。
But feminine hygiene products remain out of reach for the vast majority of India's women, with millions in impoverished rural areas using rags or even sawdust, ashes and leaves instead. The lack of proper menstrual hygiene and sanitation has been linked to girls dropping out of school and lower productivity in the workplace.
但絕大多數印度婦女仍然無法獲得女性衛生用品，數百萬貧困農村地區的女性使用抹布甚至鋸末、灰燼和樹葉來代替。缺乏適用的經期衛生用品和設施與女孩輟學和工作效率低下息息相關。
According to India's National Family Health Survey, more than 40% of Indian women aged 15 to 24 do not have access to sanitary products during their period.
根據印度的全國家庭健康調查，15至24歲的印度女性中40%以上的人群在經期無法獲得衛生用品。
The figure was as high as 80% for some of India’s poorer central and eastern states.
而在印度貧困的中部和東部一些邦，這一比例高達80%。
India now joins Ireland, Kenya and Canada as one of the few countries where sanitary products are tax-free.
印度現在和愛爾蘭、肯亞和加拿大一樣，成為少數幾個衛生產品免稅的國家。
Protests are still continuing to demand similar laws in other countries, including the United States, the United Kingdom and Australia. Several US lawmakers have campaigned against the so-called "tampon tax," while the "pink tax" -- where women pay more than men for similar products -- has also been slammed by activists around the world.
美國、英國和澳大利亞等國的抗議活動仍在繼續，要求這些國家實行類似法律。一些美國立法者開展活動，反對所謂的「衛生棉稅」，而「粉紅稅」（購買類似產品，女性花費更多）也受到全球活動家的抨擊。
（來源：中國日報網、CNN、每日郵報 環球時報）