Menstruation is a unique and natural phenomena of women. It is a concept under the brand of myth in India which denies access to women in socio-cultural life. The discourse on menstruation began with the deep rooted taboo and silence about it in the public arena. It is always surrounded by secrecy. In India, Hindu faith restricts the women from participating in normal life and calls them impure thereby denied entry to religious shrines, when they are menstruating. Moreover, some gods are said to specifically not to confront women of menstruating age. During the time, one’s own home and kitchen were inaccessible as it may pollute the environment. The innate reason for the belief is the myth of impurity, cultural and religious taboos on menstruation. None is curious enough to test these theories that carry the burden of prejudice. Scientifically speaking, menstruation occurs when there is ovulation and missed chance of pregnancy which results in bleeding. Thus, there is nothing to prove it as impure as it is a biological process within female species.
MENSTRUAL LEAVE
Women experience a varied level of physical discomfort during the period of menstrual cycle which are accompanied by hormonal changes. As a result of the stigma associated with menstruation, women may hesitate to express their discomfort in their working environment often because of the fear of losing a job, or facing discrimination. Introducing the leave within the working sector not only ensures sensitization but also raises a healthy discussion on the matter. Menstrual leave is considered to be a necessity because in a study conducted by Global Journal of Health Sciences in 2015, 70.2% of women experience dysmenorrhea. i.e., the period’s cramps and pain. In 2017, University college of London also revealed a similar view. Another research report presented by Frontier also is in consensus with the earlier study. In this regard, the survey conducted by National Library of Medicine is indispensable as it pointed out that menstruation has moderate to severe effects on employees overall productivity, energy and efficiency. Most of the industrial heads opined that physiological characteristics are a valid reason for providing menstrual leave for women.
LEGAL INITIATIVES
The existing provision for the working sector in the country is labour and industrial law which has no mention as to menstrual leave policies. Thus the organization has ample scope to introduce the same in the sector. Zomato was the first ever organization that led out with this inclusive culture followed by Swiggy, Byjus, Culture Machine, Gozoop, FlyMyBiz in India.
In the International scenario, the trend has been initiated by Japan back in 1947 implementing menstrual leave followed by South Korea, Indonesia, Taiwan, Zambia and Spain for a period of one to three days.
Referring to the Indian legal position, Bihar dated back in 1992, is the first ever state in the country to provide two days paid menstrual leave per month for its female employees. Though not gaining any prominence in the history, Kerala was the state ahead of time that introduced menstrual leave for the students in 1912 during the time of the annual exam and permitted writing it later. The book “Kerala in the 19th Century” written by historian P Bhaskaran Unni, published by Kerala Sahithya Academy in 1988 contains statements to this effect.
The Menstruation Benefits Bill, 2017 was the first ever proposed bill addressing the matter of menstrual leave. Subsequent is the Women’s Sexual, Reproductive and Menstrual Right Bill, 2018. But both the bills have not seen the light of the day. Recently, the Right of Women to Menstrual Leave and Free Access to Menstrual Health Products Bill, 2022 which were introduced to provide paid leave for women and trans women were unsuccessful in its endeavor for female folk. In 2023, PIL was filed before the Supreme Court of India seeking direction to grant menstrual leave for women under Maternity Benefit Act, 1961. But the Court directed to submit a representation to the Ministry of Women and Child Development for the same, thereby disposing of the case. In August, 2023 Maharashtra Government issued a notification named Maharashtra Shops and Establishment (Regulation of Employment and Conditions of Service) (Amendment) Bill 2023 which permitted paid leave for female employees who come within its ambit.
Additionally, the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare, Government of India has published the draft National Menstrual Hygiene Policy, 2023, with an objective ‘menstrual friendly environment’ in all settings including homes, schools/ educational institutions, workplaces and public spaces.
CONCLUSION
To combat the menstruation related myth and social norms, the foremost strategy is to raise awareness among both male and female members of the society. Young women may have limited access to information as it may have been passed to them from adult female members of the family who hold a firm belief in these ideologies. So they should be educated in this regard. Also community based campaigns and literacy is proved to solve the issue to certain extent. Also discussing these issues in the family should be considered as normal. Increasing the role of male partners to combat the taboo is quintessential. Thus, menstruation should be viewed as a normal human phenomena and understanding it in the right direction by the woman herself is a dire necessity.
REFERENCE
Suneela Garg and Tanu Anand, “Menstruation related myths in India: strategies for combating it”, National Library of Medicine, PubMed, Published: 2015 Apr- June, https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/
Sameena Dalwai, “Menstrual Leave: India First Needs To Get Rid Of The Taboo Of Menstruation”, The Wire, Published: 19th December 2023, https://thewire.in
Avantika P, ETHR World, From the Economic Times, “How India Inc. is approaching menstrual leave policy” https://hr.economictimes.indiatimes.com/ Updfated on Jan.24,2024
Anshul Prakash, Archika Dudhwewala, Deeksha Malik and Shreya Sukhtankar, “Looking Beyond the Law: The Case of Menstrual Leave in India”, Cite as: 2023 SCC OnLine https://www.scconline.com/
Devaiah – BCP Associates “Menstrual leave in India- Trends and Perspectives”, published on December 15, 2023, https://www.bcpassociates.com/
“Ahead of its time! This Kerala school granted menstrual leave to students way back in 1912” https://economictimes.indiatimes.com/ Last Updated: Aug 20, 2017