Is menstrual leave a symbol of care for women or a concealed propaganda to make them look inefficient to be employed in demanding jobs?
Gendering human rights has become passé in India. However, female teachers’ demand for of menstrual leave every month in Uttar Pradesh has raised eyebrows. The teachers say poor public transport and those filthy toilets in schools add to their woes during the periods. Last year, food delivery company Zomato announced up to 10 days’ paid ‘period leave’ per year for women and transgenders, kicking off debates about gender equality and ghettoising women.
Suffice to say, umpteen dimensions have been discussed about menstrual or period leave recently. Even a Menstruation Benefits Bill, 2017 is in the pipeline. A menstrual period leave enables the working women the option to take paid or unpaid leave from their workplace if they are unable to attend to their work because of this biological norm. The need for this kind of a policy emanated from the fact that some women undergo a condition called dysmenorrhea or extreme pain during first few days of their menstrual cycle, which also debilitates their productive efficiency.
Such leave is not new in India. Kerala had granted menstrual leave to its female students as early as 1912. A leave policy to help women during their menstrual cycle first came up in Russia in the 19th century but it was later withdrawn in 1927 because it brought with it issues of gender discrimination. In 1947, Japan’s labor force brought a law that provided menstrual leave to its women workforce, but the necessity for such a law is still highly debated in Japan. It is still debated whether menstrual leave is a symbol of care and concern for women at workplace or a concealed propaganda to make women look inefficient to be employed in high demanding jobs.
In India where talking about menstruation is still considered a taboo, will a menstrual leave policy benefit its intended stakeholders, that is women? Will working women from non-metropolitan areas be able to shed their inhibition and talk to their male bosses menstrual leave? In a country where even the media shies away from advertising napkins, how can policy makers expect women to talk openly about availing menstrual leave at their workplaces? These are pertinent questions that call for paving the way for social and attitudinal change.
It is good to see people, especially employers, opening up to the idea of talking about a taboo topic like periods and extending empathy to women employees in the menstrual age. Showing empathy to women employees who genuinely undergo physical discomfort during first two days of their menstrual cycle can be considered as an act of humanitarian concern and definitely, it has nothing to do with feminism. It is also highly subjective since women differ in their physical discomfort during their menstrual cycle with few of them undergoing extreme mental and physical agony, and a lucky few do not have any obvious physical discomfort at all. At the same time, providing period leaves only widens the gender gap and also deepens the level of discrimination against the fairer gender at workplace.
Women in Indian culture have always been portrayed as a symbol of endless patience and courage. Homemakers are a poignant testimony to the above statement. They in particular have never let their menstrual cycle come in the way of their duties towards their families. Empathy from family members during their menstrual phase is the only support they seek at such times. However, the idea of offering period leaves to women is not a solution to the myriad problems that women encounter at their workplaces. In that respect, men too have their share of psychological and physiological worries that need similar empathetic considerations.
If corporates really want to show that they care for their women employees, they should stop bringing policies that promote gender discrimination and gender bias. Alternatively, corporates can make their employees more empathetic towards women issues by making them aware of the mental and physical stress that haunt women during their menstrual cycle and motivate them to be more compassionate towards women during their difficult times. This calls for bringing up a culture where subjects like periods are not treated as a taboo and women feel uninhibited to speak about it in their workplace. This is a highly subjective issue, each woman needs a different treatment during this time, and period leave is not an umbrella solution and not mandated too. It should be dealt in an organised and organic manner so that the real sense of women empowerment can be translated into reality in Indian society.
(Sofi Dinesh and Chakraborty are assistant professors at Amrita University, Kochi, and Jaipuria Institute of Management, Lucknow, respectively. The views expressed are personal.)
