Spain could become the first European country to grant vacation days to women who have menstrual problems. About the sense and nonsense of a new holiday regulation.
Pain during your period – a taboo topic in many places
Judy Birch remembers the situation clearly: “I was in the classroom and I was giving a lesson. I was in so much pain that I cried. I had to go home.” Birch now runs a pelvic pain treatment center in the UK. She is one of the billions of women with severe menstrual pain. This includes heavy bleeding, cramps and fatigue, to nausea, vomiting and diarrhea. According to recent studies, up to 90 percent of women of childbearing age are familiar with such symptoms, and around 30 percent experience extremely severe pain. And around a fifth of women, according to the American Academy of Family Physicians, say that they are no longer able to cope with the demands of everyday life during menstruation.
How do women cope?
“I just fought my way through,” said Judy Birch. “Without concentrating, without sticking to the point – I just didn't function.” In some countries around the world, women can take regular time off during menstruation. The “menstrual leave” is controversial. Women fear stigma and discrimination. Nevertheless, Spain could now lead the way here – with three days of paid extra vacation per month.
Pain that no longer allow normal functioning: Many women are familiar with this during their period
At least that is the result of a draft law that has now been punctured and which is to be decided on next Tuesday in the Spanish Council of Ministers. Apparently, in order to claim these days, the women would have to complain about really severe pain and also submit a medical certificate. Toni Morillas, director of the Spanish Institute for Women, a government organization, told the online portal Politico: “In our country we have problems regarding menstruation as a physiological process that must entail certain rights.” Morillas also presented a statistic according to which a third of all women in Spain suffer from menstrual problems of this kind. DW has tried to reach both institutions, the Institute for Women and the Spanish Ministry for Equal Rights, but both do not want to comment on the project at this time.
The proposed law, which could also be amended, is part of a new health law that will also provide vacation days for women who terminate a pregnancy and abolish parental consent if 16- or 17-year-old women wish to have an abortion. In addition, VAT on menstrual products such as pads and tampons is to be abolished.
East Asian countries are pioneers
Italy had also planned a similar legislative initiative in 2017, which, however, triggered strong discussions as to whether this was not the first step Discrimination in the workplace would increase. In the end, the request didn't go through.
No or reduced VAT on hygiene products – many women would also welcome that
As of today, only a handful of countries have comparable regulations: Japan, South Korea, Taiwan, Indonesia and Zambia. Veve Hitipeuw, CEO at Kiroyan Partners in Indonesia, as an employer, is both obliged to offer the days off, but has also benefited from it herself: “On days like this I wasn't even able to sit up straight in my chair. I could don't sit at the computer for eight or nine hours,” she reports. The paid vacation helped her a lot. While she hasn't had any trouble claiming the days, nor making them as an employer, she says, “There's still that stigma there. People think women are just lazy.”
A look at Japan confirms this. A recent Nikkei survey showed that just 10 percent of women actually take the days to which they are entitled. 48 percent of those surveyed say that they would definitely have wanted to take the days, but then refrained from doing so because they didn't want to go to their male superior with the request – or simply because so few other women take the entitlement .
Even in European countries, which often have very liberal holiday regulations, it is rather unusual to give menstrual problems as the reason for the absence. In a survey in the Netherlands in 2019, 14 percent of women said they had called in sick because of menstrual pain – however, only a fifth of those had given the real reason.
Women fear disadvantages< /h2> Watch the video 03:52
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Judy Birch reports from her work on the network that she often hears from women who prefer not to be away from menstruation for work. “A lot of women are at a disadvantage if they take time off every month, regularly,” Birch said. They would have to fear disciplinary action or even dismissal. The possibilities of getting time off because of menstrual problems are very different from country to country – in the USA, for example, it is difficult because there are generally fewer opportunities to stay away from work for pay.
Spain's initiative is enough for Birch not. “If you have this pain every month, then three days is not enough. That's pathetic”. Rather, the entire world of work needs to change and be more flexible in order to accommodate women with menstrual problems.
However, Veve Hitipeuw from Indonesia thinks that such a law is “simply an acknowledgment of the problem and support for women ” represent. “Companies must enable women to do their jobs and at the same time fulfill their role in society – as people, women and mothers”.
Friedel Taube translated this text from English.