In Spain a new law will allow people between three and five days of sick leave per month for painful periods. There are no restrictions on how many times this can be done, but a doctor’s note is necessary.
Spain is the first European country to implement such a law. Could Britain follow suit? Possibly. Both in good faith and because a certain substrata of cynical politician could see it as a good way of securing the female vote.
Aside from infuriating misogynists, detractors say paid menstrual leave will encourage sex-based discrimination by physically keeping menstruating women out of the workplace and because it reinforces gender stereotypes such as women are potentially unreliable – which is therefore more costly for employers. All of this limits professional potential and society doesn’t need more opportunities to overlook women for roles or promotions.
There are also concerns that paid extreme pain during periods will be normalised by paid leave, to the point that women who suffer with it don’t think they need to seek medical advice, when intense menstrual pain can indicate underlying problems including endometriosis, Polycystic Ovary Syndrome and uterine fibroids.
The largest menstrual study to date, conducted in 2021 by Radboud University Medical Centre, found that one in three women experience such intense period pain that they are unable to carry out daily tasks — and over half kept their symptoms a secret.
The Spanish legislation is far from perfect. It fails to address the impact of menstruation as a whole – only the physical pain during a period.
So what of Pre Menstrual Dysmorphic Disorder (PMDD) – an extreme form of PMS which can leave many sufferers feeling suicidal? The emotional nightmare that many women suffer seems to have been wholly ignored.
The emotional nightmare that many women suffer seems to have been wholly ignored
One of the thorniest issues, however, is around the perception of disability. Critics of the Spanish law reject the idea that periods are seen as or conflated with disability. Sally King, founder of Menstrual Matters, an evidence-based non-profit organisation supporting menstrual health and rights, has advocated against paid menstrual leave: “When it comes to a sex-based policy for menstruation, what you are saying is that it is some sort of debility that affects women’s ability to work, which is untrue… You’re implying with the policy that normal menstruation requires you to take time off work.”
Excruciatingly painful periods can lead to vomiting, make standing up impossible and require painkillers. These symptoms might not be legally classed as a disability but when you’re bedridden because of pain, it’s hard to think of a more apt description.
Paid menstrual leave is no silver bullet but it shouldn’t be dismissed out of hand. Whatever you think of the new law in Spain, that the issue of how menstruation can affect women at work is only just being given due consideration is astonishing.
