Period Leave In Workplace? Yes Please!

Inspired by a PIL filed in the honourable supreme court of India by Advocate Shailendra Mani
Tripathi for menstruation leave to female students and working women It got in my mind to
write something on it.

Maybe it could help a little to break a stereotype in our country. When it was asked by active members of our society who wants to bring a change in our country to normalize periods, it was mis-conceptualized to such extent for few that they think that period pain is nothing, and women and transpeople want to seek unfair advantages now.

Let us learn how unfair the advantage we seek is!

Symptoms of periods can get severe at times for most people. It can be constipation,
dysmenorrhea (cramps), body ache, headache, diarrhea, emotional or mental symptoms.

Changing menstrual products, checking stains frequently, bloating or going to washrooms
again and again while you are in your office, college or school could affect your productivity
and it would obviously be hard for you to work.

Instead, taking a period leave of a day or two (because above-mentioned symptoms does not last for more than 2–3 days) would be enough for a woman to start her work again after having proper rests which she needed the most.

Many may say that people have been menstruating from time immemorial and such issue
never arose. But the real talk is that working women, transpeople, or students were still taking leaves when they were on periods, but the number of leaves allotted to them were the same as given to men.

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Why should we have the same number of paid sick leaves?

In private jobs sector, some paid sick leaves indeed is provided to the employees, but when our bodies are different from cis-men, how can we have the same number of paid sick leaves?

As women, transpeople had to take at least one day off due to periods and apart from that they might get sick at times throughout the year as well. But they are only provided with the same sick leaves as of their male colleagues. What I believe it that different bodies are to be taken care of in
different ways.

The truth is that menstruators, have been complaining about it, that is why this issue arose and even
in an article published by Quartz, University College London reproductive health professor John
Guillebaud said cramping pain is as almost as bad as having a heart attack, this being highlighted
in the PIL as well.

Countries like South Korea, Japan, Indonesia allows women to take period leaves, some offers
work from home or shifting to a comfortable space in the office.

Progress in our country is being seen as well and companies like Zomato, Swiggy, Byju’s, FlyMyBiz etc. are offering paid leave. This matter should be taken into consideration in the most earnest manner by the
responsible authorities of our country.

Image source: aris leoven, free and edited on CanvaPro

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