Menstrual
leave: A Boon or a Curse?
I
recall sitting in the classroom and being in tears because I was in so much
agony. And I had no idea what to do. I had to leave, obviously.
Judy
Birch recalls what it was like to have significant menstrual symptoms in this
way.
Birch,
who now manages the Pelvic Pain Support Network in the United Kingdom, is one
of the billions of women who experience severe menstrual symptoms. Heavy
bleeding, intense cramps, and exhaustion, as well as nausea, vomiting, and diarrhoea,
are all symptoms of dysmenorrhea.
According
to one study, up to 91 per cent of women of reproductive age suffer from
dysmenorrhea, with up to 29 per cent experiencing severe pain.
According
to the American Academy of Family Physicians, up to 20% of women experience
severe dysmenorrhea that interferes with their everyday activities.
So,
how do women deal with it?
"I
was really struggling," Birch says, "not able to concentrate, not
able to focus... and I wasn't functioning at all."
Women
can take legally mandated time off during their periods in certain nations
across the world. Such "menstrual leave" rules are divisive; they're
accused of perpetuating stigma and prejudice, and they're often the focus of
heated debate. Spain, on the other hand, maybe on the verge of being the first
European country to do so.
Three
days extra leave per month
The
Spanish Cabinet approved a draught bill on Tuesday that would allow for up to
three days of menstrual leave per month. It must now pass through Parliament.
If approved, Spain would become the first European country to do so.
Although
not all details are apparent, women would need to be suffering from severe
menstrual symptoms and would most likely be needed to submit a medical
certificate in order to be eligible for the leave.
In
our country, we have difficulties identifying menstruation as a natural
phenomenon that must create rights," Toni Morillas, director of Spain's
Institute of Women, told the Spanish online news site Publico.
According
to Morillas, one out of every two women suffers from unpleasant periods.
DW
reached out to the institute as well as the Spanish Ministry of Equality, where
the institute is based, but neither responded at this time.
The
policy proposal is part of a new reproductive health law that gives women who
terminate pregnancies leave and eliminates the requirement for a parental
agreement in abortions for women aged 16 to 17. It would also repeal sales
taxes on menstruation goods such as pads and tampons in supermarkets.
East
Asian countries lead in menstrual leave
In
2017, the Italian parliament proposed a similar period leave plan, which
provoked heated debate over whether it would encourage employment
discrimination. The bid was eventually unsuccessful.
Only
a few nations, including Japan, South Korea, Taiwan, Indonesia, and Zambia,
have national policies that provide paid menstruation leave.
Veve
Hitipeuw, the CEO of Kiroyan Partners in Indonesia, is both an employer who is required
to provide this leave and an employee who has taken use of it.
She
claims she took this absence on occasion because she suffered from acute
abdominal pain throughout her period. It was quite difficult to sit
comfortably. "I couldn't work if I had to sit at my desk or in front of my
laptop for eight or nine hours every day." " Hitipeuw described her
painful periods as "very unpleasant," and she viewed the policy as
"extremely useful for me."
"There's
still a stigma or discrimination surrounding this leave because people think:
Women are simply lazy, they don't want to work," she adds, adding that she
has never had any difficulty taking or granting it.
She
notes that the framework may only exist in theory for female factory employees
because productivity is directly tied to time spent on the job.
In
Puebla, Mexico, a lady works on a car on the assembly line of the Zacua auto
company, Mexico's first electric car brand built primarily by women.
Period
leave can be problematic
A
glance at Japan, which implemented its period leave programe in 1947 as part
of postwar industrial reforms, appears to support that point of view. According
to a recent Nikkei survey, less than 10% of women claim menstruation leave,
despite the fact that 48% of those polled occasionally desire to use it but
never do, for example, because they are hesitant to apply to their male
employer or because so few other women do.
Menstruation
is rarely used as a justification for taking time off in European countries
with extensive leave policies. In a 2019 poll of more than 30,000 Dutch women,
it was shown that while 14 per cent had taken time from work during their
period, just 20% reported the genuine picture.
The
pros and drawbacks of menstrual leave in the workplace were detailed in a
comprehensive research article published in 2020 as part of a handbook on
menstruation studies.
According
to the paper, such rules have detrimental consequences such as
"propagating sexist views and attitudes, contributing to menstrual stigma
and perpetuating gender stereotypes, negatively impacting the gender wage gap,
and encouraging the medicalization of menstruation."
Female fragility, unproductivity, and
unreliability are examples of negative gender stereotypes, while
"medicalization of menstruation" presents menstruation as a sickness
that needs to be "fixed," according to the report.
Menstruators
can include nonbinary and transgender people, according to the report, and they
should have access to period leave as well.
A
lot of women are actually penalized at work if they do take regular time off,
as a monthly thing, Birch says of her experience with the network in the UK.
They could be punished or perhaps fired.
She
points out that the ability to implement a menstrual leave policy would vary
widely by country, and would be far more difficult in countries like the United
States, which offer limited paid leave in general.
Spain's
proposal is insufficient for Birch. Three days is nothing when you suffer that
kind of anguish every month.
It's
pitiful, in my opinion."
To
accommodate women with severe menstrual symptoms, she believes the general work
atmosphere should be made much more flexible.
"Some
menstruators would benefit from workplace flexibility more broadly (for
example, additional time off, the option to work from home, tailored work
schedules)," according to the 2020 article.
And
some businesses are taking notice, even incorporating it into their policies.
Supporting
women in the workplace
Since
August 2020, Zomato, an Indian-based company focused on food delivery, has had
a menstrual leave policy in effect. Vaidika Parashar, the company's
communications director, described the structure as offering 10 period leave
days each year in addition to regular leave.
She
explains an honor system in which employees just update their status on a team
chat with an emoji of a calendar with red drips, with no questions asked. She
also utilises this time off.
I
would literally put on the emoji and say, I am not available, on one of those
days. And I've seen plenty of people who value it. At Zomato, we take it very
seriously.
The
organization has taken steps to foster a workplace atmosphere in which period
leave is not stigmatized. She emphasizes that the guideline applies to
"all appropriate genders," including transgender people. "You
shouldn't be alarmed about it; it's a biological purpose."
She
claims that implementing the policy has enhanced company productivity.
According to a poll of Dutch women, lost productivity owing to
"presenteeism," or times when around 81 per cent of women went to
work despite severe menstruation symptoms, amounted to nearly nine days per
year.
Menstrual
leave, according to Parashar, has helped Zomato establish transparency,
fostered a work climate where people feel comfortable being themselves, and
enhanced employee retention — as well as acting as a recruiting tool for women.
In India, just approximately 16 per cent of women participate in the labour
force, according to government data from 2020.
"We've
never had any formal reports of misuse," she adds, adding that some women
may take advantage of menstruation leave when they aren't in such bad shape.
Regardless,
Parashar argues that such abuse is irrelevant since "we simply believe
that we need to enable people to have the necessary mechanisms to constantly be
at their best." All of these functions become a part of it, whether it's
parental leave or menstrual leave."
Menstrual
leave, according to Hitipeuw, is essentially a symbol of respect and support
for women.
Workplaces
or businesses must allow women to do their jobs while also fulfilling their
societal obligations — as a human being, a woman, and a mother.