Definition:

• Menstrual leave enables a person to take time off from work when period symptoms make it difficult to perform work tasks.
• Several international organisations have promoted menstrual leave as a women’s right. For instance, an International Labour Organisation report, in 2003, asked nations to recognise menstrual leave.

States and Countries providing Menstrual leave:

• Kerala, in 2023, introduced menstrual and maternity leave to all students above the age of 18. 
• Japan introduced menstrual leave in 1947, Indonesia in 1948, and South Korea. Taiwan and Vietnam have also implemented paid leave. 
• In relation to the Asian countries, the progress made by the western world, except in Sweden and Spain, is still abysmal. 

Potential Benefits:

• Promotes Menstrual health: Menstrual leave can benefit those who experience discomfort from menstruation, and those who experience menstrual cycle-related illnesses.
• Destigmatising Menstruation: The social unacceptability of the discussion of menstrual symptoms can result in societal pressure to keep menstrual distress a secret from coworkers and health professionals alike. 
  • Here, a menstrual leave may offer women the opportunity to speak up about their menstrual cycle-related health issues, and to take time to recover or seek treatment.
  • Discussion of menstruation has the potential to normalise it, and therefore de-stigmatizes the conversation surrounding it.
• Increased Efficiency: As women get time to recover from their discomfort, a comfortable work environment is created. Such an environment allows them to work with high efficiency.

Potential Drawbacks:

• Perpetuating Sexist Beliefs and Attitudes: Both hostile and benevolent sexism have been found to result in evaluating a menstruating woman more negatively than a non-menstruating woman. 
• Contributing to Menstrual Stigma: Menstrual leave brings menstruation to light in the workplace. This unmasking of menstruation in public spaces might increase stigma rather than decreasing it. 
  • Menstrual leave may also perpetuate the belief that menstruation is something about which to be ashamed and to be kept private, and therefore avoided in the workplace. 
• ‘Outing’ in the Workplace: The term ‘outing’ is used to refer to an occurrence in which a member of the LGBTQ+ community’s gender identity or sexual orientation is revealed by another person or entity without their permission, which may lead to discrimination, shaming, and violence. 
  • It can also be used to refer to the disclosure of one’s menstrual status without the menstruator’s consent. 
  • Enforcing a workplace practice concerning menstruation may require explicit and public definitions for matters that usually remain implicit and private.
• Justifying discrimination: Menstrual leave may have the potential to perpetuate the assumptions that women are unfit for the workplace and thus, justify gender discrimination.
  • For example, it has been reported that women in China are hesitant to use menstrual leave days because they fear that the disclosure of their menstrual status could reinforce stereotypes of female fragility and unproductivity.

Conclusion

• Starting of public policy discussions on menstruation can lead to reduced stigma and a gender-sensitive world.