Indian public offices providing menstrual leaves is a great signal for period positivity & menstrual rights in India

Earlier this month, the Sikkim High Court decided to allow menstrual leave for women employees of the Registry for 2-3 days in a month where women employees who wish to avail this leave need to obtain the recommendation of the medical officer. With this decision, it became the first High Court in the country to introduce a menstrual leave policy. The timing could not be more apt, especially when this decision comes after the Supreme Court in declined to hear a petition seeking menstrual leave for students and working women in the country, last year, asking the Central government to weigh in on this since there was a policy aspect around this issue. Menstrual leave while being heavily debated globally, interestingly, was already in place in countries such as Japan, Indonesia, South Korea, Zambia and more recently in Spain. Closer home, Bihar had menstrual leave in the 1990s, while the Kerala Government granted menstrual leave for students in all state-run higher education institutions.

Menstrual pain, also known as dysmenorrhea, is an issue faced by many women. It is characterized by cramping or aching in the lower abdomen, often accompanied by other symptoms such as headaches, nausea, fatigue, and bloating. The pervasive period pain encountered by women and how it impacts their work are the reasons why menstrual leave at the workplace has now attained importance among workplace culture discussions. Right to work and its true implementation in spirit is only possible when we can protect women from discrimination they may face for reproductive related issues in their lives. Interestingly, research shows that despite having human rights conventions like the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights and the Convention to Eliminate All Forms of Discrimination Against Women (CEDAW) there are no clear recommendations regarding menstrual rights (both menstruation and menopause), while it does offer protections during pregnancy include paid maternity leave, right to workplace breastfeeding including having equal access to leave and benefits. When one puts on the lens of human rights, everyone is entitled to equal treatment at the workplace, there is potential for an argument to be made by women that they are being denied the right to take time off from work during their menstrual cycle.

The reasons why employers may typically hesitate to bring in a menstrual leave policy at the workplace have been around employers wondering if such an accommodation could impact the gender equality in the workplace, to employees availing being uncomfortable sharing personal details to the employer also around how such accommodations may be seen as an entitlement as opposed to a benefit and finally would the team be able to manage workload if there are other competing leave requests from members of the same team! What this means of course is that there is a greater need for awareness around what such leaves mean for menstruating individuals who suffer from debilitating pain every month. In a country that is experiencing steadily decreasing female labour force participation rate, menstrual leave policy by a public office like the High Court sends the right kind of signal to women wanting to enter the labour force. When public offices lead in initiatives enabling period positivity it helps reinforce the same among other sectors as well.