Menstruation or Period as we call it in layman terms is still a topic that is considered taboo in India and worldwide. As a matter of fact, periods have been stained with social stigma, gender stereotypes and public prejudice throughout human history. This has led to feelings of shame and embarrassment in women making it difficult for them to voice out their pain and suffering in the open.
Women have been conditioned throughout the years to keep any mention of periods under wraps and unfortunately men and we as a society have only added fuel to the fire by not acknowledging a normal physiological function something which is as basic as any other bodily function.
Period pain is a very common occurrence experienced by women during menstruation and the periods for women may range from little to no pain or severe abdominal pain that may spread to their lower back and legs.
In 2017, research by University College London revealed that cramping pain or dysmenorrhea which is the amount of pain a female goes through while menstruating is equivalent to the pain a person experiences during a heart attack.Dr. John Guillebaud, Professor of reproductive Health, University College London
Menstrual Leave Policy
Menstruation accompanies plethora of conditions that are physical as well as psychological in nature and it is normal for women to experience them before, during or after their periods. Physical symptoms include abdominal cramping, lower back pain, nausea, fatigue, bloating and tender breasts while psychological symptoms include mood swings, irritability, appetite changes, trouble sleeping, anxiety, depressive episodes and lack of concentration. Menstrual leave refers to leave of a day or two from work to help alleviate the discomfiture brought in by the physical and psychological symptom experienced by women during their periods. Period leaves are to be provided in addition to the usual medical leaves that are availed by all the employees of the organization.
Menstrual Leave Policy In India
There are no legislative measures for menstrual leaves in India as of now. In 2017, the Member of Lok Sabha from Arunachal Pradesh, Ninong Ering proposed the Menstrual Benefits Bill 2017 in Parliament to provide two days of paid period leave every month to both public and private sector employees during menstruation but the bill is yet to be passed. However, in 1992 Bihar was the only state in India to start providing two days of mandatory period leaves to its women employees. Recently, on January 14th 2023, Cochin University of Science and Technology (CUSAT) took a welcoming step towards this initiative by announcing menstrual leave for the female students of the institution.
Women are perceived as malfunctioning and their hormones out of balance, rather than seeing the organization of society and work perceived in need of transformation to demand less constant and disciplined productivity of certain kind.Emily Martin, Anthropologist (Professor of Socio-cultural Anthropology at New York University)
Menstrual Leave Policy In Other Countries Of The World
There are other countries in the world that have a menstrual leave policy in place for the women in their country. In a recent turn of events, Spain became the first European country to approve the law that allows women suffering from severe period pain to take menstrual leave for three to five days. Other countries that have menstrual leave policy in place for women are Japan, Indonesia, South Korea, Taiwan, Vietnam and Zambia.
Menstrual Leave An Ongoing Debate
Worried about being dismissed by their coworkers as overdramatic, oversharing, delicate or sensitive when it comes to periods, women have chosen to be a silent sufferer rather than voicing out their discomfiture. But the topic of paid period leave has been at the forefront of debate from past many years. Paid period leave has time and again sparked the arguments about gender stereotypes and gender equality at workspace and remains to be a topic of controversy. While a large population advocates period leaves would help women alleviate all the comfort and excruciating pain that accompanies periods as well as create healthy environment in accordance with right to health.
It would enable them with the flexibility in work hours. Some believe these leaves to be discriminatory in nature while some argue that seeing as men and women are biologically different, it is an inherently equitable approach that would help women who go through a difficult time during their periods. Some argue that these period leaves would put women in an unflattering light where they would be sidelined and regarded inefficient because of their biology.
There's a significant proportion of population that believes that paid menstrual leaves would strengthen the male preconceptions about female weakness that would inadvertently have an effect on the hiring and promotion prospects of women in work organizations. While some believe period leaves would open doors for healthy discussions on menstrual health of women thus paving a way to destigmatize periods and normalizing them in workplace. It would help create awareness amongst men and women and instead of shying away from the topic, it would be embraced more freely and openly without any shame, judgement or embarrassment.
Let's see what some of the healthcare professionals had to say when asked by MedBound Times about this issue.
I totally support Paid Menstrual Leaves at workplace because it isn't a leave they would be availing to spend leisure time but to cope up various with physical and psychological symptoms accompanied with the period out of which abdominal cramps being the most common amongst them. Also, a lot of it boils down to the menstrual hygiene which is a basic requirement during periods but most of the workplaces aren't equipped with female friendly hygienic facilities. Also over the years during my time at work, I've seen a lot of women patients with the complaint of urinary tract infections [UTI's] due to usage of common washrooms in addition to less intake of water and these reasons combined with the low estrogen levels and low immunity of women and during menses makes women more prone to urinary tract infections [UTI's] during their periods.Dr. Aarti Nehra (MBBS, MMST) , Medical Director at MedBound
Women should be entitled for two paid menstrual leave every month. Menstrual cycle is a physiological process, yet in many instances it can be much more uncomfortable and even painful (dysmenorrhea). Given that menses can cause inconvenience and an additional stress with work related life styles, I am in favor of job places considering an additional accommodation for it.Dr. Munish Raizada, (MD, FAAP), CEO of MedBound
Does every woman need a menstrual leave? It's still unclear whether or not it's essential. The fact that few workplaces may potentially result in gender inequality by implementing menstrual leave. This is because every person has a unique perspective. Some people might assume that because women go through all of these things and managing them would be challenging, they do not belong in leadership positions. Consequently, many women may lose opportunities to improve in their careers. In the era of fighting for gender inequality menstruation leave can again cause the inequality.Lalitha Lavanya Shree.S, Medical student, Taras shevchenko national University of Kyiv
Women should be entitled to menstrual leaves. The fact that India does not have a law, bill, or any legislative measure for menstrual leaves, shows how taboo the topic. A Menstruation Benefits Bill was proposed in parliament in 2018, but it is yet to be approved. Bihar is the only state in India to have a menstrual leave policy according to its HR guidelines in 1992. Some private corporate firms do offer menstrual leaves. However, other than that, menstrual leaves are not offered in the government or any other sector. There are some positive changes as recently a university in Kerala announced menstrual leaves for female students. However, there should be a proper menstrual leave policy so that every organization offers menstrual leaves.Dr. Amey Patil (BAMS), pursuing MPH
I believe instead of using the term paid menstrual we could relabel it as a complimentary leaves that are granted to both men and women. Four complimentary leaves free of any gender and conditions granted to both men and women seems fair to me and they could avail this leave as per their choice at any given time.Dr. Darshit Patel, (MD), Mumbai
I believe women should be entitled to paid menstrual leave because menstruation is not a choice young girls and women make but it is a basic human bodily function which has been subject of shame and embarrassment over a period of centuries. Introduction of paid menstrual leave would open conversations that would lift the curtain of social stigma and taboo as well as raise concerns about health of women, gender equality, workforce participation.Dr. Samridhi Soumya (BDS), Currently practicing in Delhi
The question here is how many days are we asking the leave for? Menstruation is a physiological cycle which happens to all women and is going to take place till the age of 50 and this is what we have to live with our entire lives. While dysmenorrhea is a different topic, normal periods aren't supposed to be this painful. If a woman is having period pain so intense that she is unable to get out of bed than she needs medical assistance. Also, when we ask for period leaves, don't you think the credibility of the woman gets judged? Demanding paid menstrual leave would cast a shadow of judgement over her efficiency, her credibility and her hard work when she has been striving so hard to carve a name for herself at her workplace.Dr. Gurmeet
I think that paid menstrual leave will be a huge step towards increasing awareness around the menstrual cycle, specially for men. It should be implemented with education in schools, communities and enterprises so as to be able to recognize any alteration of the cycle and pathologies such as dysmenorrhea, menorrhagia, amenorrhea, oligomenorrhea and PMS.Solana Belen Cofone, Medical student, CEMIC University, Buenos Aires, Argentina
My opinion for the matter is that it is more important to destigmatize menstruation in our country before we have conversations about paid menstrual leave for it to even be effective. Additionally, there is a need to find a gender equal solution to this to prevent employers from hiring less women due to them having a mentality of more women=more paid menstrual leave=less productivity.Nimra Areej, 3rd year undergraduate Biology student
I absolutely am in favor of paid menstrual leave for women. I believe that the narrative surrounding menstruation needs to be changed and it would take equal participation of both men and women to bring that much needed change. We need to view periods as not only a women's issue but as a human rights issue and that honest discussions and education would enable men and women to overcome the social stigma surrounding menstruation.Dr. Parikha Raj (BDS), Dental Intern, King George's Medical University
I don't think women should be entitled to menstrual leave because it would create a bias for gender discrimination at workplace and perpetuate gender stereotypes.Mr. Sanjay Singh, Senior Manager, Corporate firm
I believe women deserve period leave and it should be incorporated in our legislative system as well so that female employees from all sectors of work could avail them.Mr. Amit Kumar, Junior Engineer, Construction Firm