MENSTRUATION AND WORKPLACE EQUALITY.
Sometime back, the Honorable Supreme Court dismissed a petition to make menstrual leave mandatory at the workplace, mandating that such leave will lead to women being shunned from the workforce. It also emphasized that it was for the Executive to decide and not the courts.
Comments, memes, discussions, solutions, and more petitions will continue. But what does it signify for the common citizen — the women folk of this country? Every woman, of any class, creed, or strata, undergoes this cycle of generally five days. Is there any two opinions on this?
It seems that many countries and even some states in India have introduces this leave, but women rarely avail themselves of it. Why? This is the question we need to answer. Shame, taboo, discrimination, etc.
There is a school of thought that believes if menstrual leave is made mandatory, a woman’s cycle will become known to everyone at the workplace. What is the harm? Is it something we need to hide? And I am sure that not all women may necessarily avail themselves of this leave. I, myself, am a retired banker. I know many of my female colleagues who never had issues like stomach pian, heavy bleeding, or cramps, so they were happy to come to the office. Let us not take women for granted by assuming that if the leave is made mandatory, all of us will avail ourselves of it.
MENSTRUAL LEAVE AND HYGIENE:
It is not always the case that leave during the menstruation cycle is availed due to physical discomfort. Most schools, colleges, offices — whether private or government — bus stops, railway stations, trains, petrol bunks, and sometimes even airports and corporate offices, do not have good clean, hygienic, continuous flow of water in the washrooms. This, in my opinion, is the basic reason for debiting our own leave during these times.
The unorganized sector, where the workforce of women is very high, unfortunately does not have all the above facilities provided, nor do they have any leave to their credit. One day lost is one day’s wages lost. Can we do something about this too? Yes, provide them, as mentioned with good washrooms at construction sites, angnawadis, and so on.
Another important factor would be the provision of low-cost hygienic sanitary pads. Many of us know there is still a percentage of women who use cloth during their periods, which leads to infections and other health issues. I am sure we are all aware that May 28th is celebrated as World Menstrual Hygiene Day.
One might ask: What is there to celebrate? Yes, we need to celebrate that we are menstruating. Let there not be a stigma attached to menstruation. Let us learn and teach our girls that this is not something dirty, bad, against religion, or going against the LORD. It is something that happens every 28 days in a woman’s life — a hormonal change. It is this that makes us proud, as without it, human life would come to an end one day. There would be no progeny if women did not menstruate.
Let us join hands to break the silence, raise awareness, and change society’s outlook on menstruation. Let us discuss menstruation and not shy away from it.
In fact, dear readers, I also had a second thought before penning these few lines. I am a very common citizen — not a famous author, lawyer, sociologist, or doctor. If this write-up is published, I will be eagerly waiting for reactions from my relatives, family members, and banking-sector colleagues.
The reactions will surely help me understand how far we still shy away from discussing menstruation.
