Menstrual leave legalised in Karnataka, India

Karnataka, a southern Indian state, is the first in India to legalise paid menstrual leave across both the public and private sectors, providing women with the option to take one day of paid leave each month. 

Whilst other Indian states, such as Bihar and Odisha, offer limited menstrual leave to employees of certain sectors, Karnataka is the first to legalise it across different sectors. The state joins the likes of Spain, Japan, South Korea and Indonesia, countries that all already offer paid menstrual leave.

The news has received mixed opinions in India. Whilst many argue that it is a necessary measure to avoid women working through unbearable pain, there is an overwhelmingly negative atmosphere surrounding the topic of periods in India. Menstruation has long since been associated with being dirty or unclean, forcing women into isolation at that time of the month. Many temples and holy places bar women from entering on their period for fear that they might sully its purity and sanctity with their menstruation. In fact, in 2018, protests erupted as the state of Kerala attempted to lift this ban in the Subarimala temple, one of the holiest in Southern India. 

This widespread social stigma means that many women feel unable to seek the help they need. Feminism in India analysed a report investigating the impact of this social stigma and how to combat it, published in January of this year. It revealed that many women would rather suffer in silence and choose to delay seeking medical help for their painful periods. The article also highlights how many more serious health issues, such as endometriosis, dysmenorrhea, and menstrual hygiene, go untreated and unacknowledged because women are scared of being dismissed and shamed by medical professionals and the general public alike. 

Although menstrual leave might be legal, and indeed many businesses already provide menstrual leave in Karnataka, the amount of women who feel able to use it are therefore limited. If women feel incapable of broaching the subject of menstruation in medical contexts, how will they be able to raise it publicly in the work place?

However, it could be argued that the formal legalisation of menstrual leave will spark a necessary conversation across the state of Karnataka, and, indeed, India. By making it a legal requirement, Karnataka has brought it to the public’s attention, opening up a forum for discussion surrounding periods. The legislation also shows that female health and wellbeing is the state government’s concern, and not a responsibility to be offloaded onto individual businesses. It shows care, appreciation, and valoration of its female workers – a step that will hopefully encourage the start of a change in social attitudes around menstruation.

For the UK, this news should be a point of reflection. In August of this year, a petition was put to the government, demanding the introduction of statutory menstrual leave across the UK for people with Endometriosis & Adenomyosis – conditions which are typically very painful. It received 73,151 signatures, falling short of the 100,000 signatures necessary for the petition to be brought before Parliament. As a response, the government stated, 

“The Government has no plans to introduce menstrual leave for those with endometriosis or adenomyosis. We know the hardship they cause. Our employment rights reforms will help manage health at work”. 

Paid leave on account of period pain, therefore, is not a legal requirement which means businesses can provide this at their own discretion. For most, taking time off on account of periods comes under sick leave. However, if a company does not provide contractual sick pay, then time off for periods will not be covered by Statutory Sick Pay (SSP), according to company Davidson Morris, as it does not cover the initial three days of absence, wherein the average period lasts four days. 

This means that there is still potential for women to lose out on money and opportunities in the UK work place – our natural bodily functions leaving us at a disadvantage.  And even if allowances were made for those with endometriosis or adenomyosis, it takes a ridiculous amount of time and effort for a woman to actually receive a diagnosis. Facing down a GP over the issue of painful periods is a battle almost every woman has fought, and, more often than not, lost; our pain dismissed, and the contraceptive pill subscribed in place of real investigation into root causes and prescription of evidence based interventions for period pain.

Menstrual leave helps to remove barriers for women in the work place, but, as the situation in Karnataka is showing us, it can do so much more than that. It starts conversations, opens up taboo subjects, and turns away from a male-centric working world. It makes space for women to exist as women – space that is still sorely needed in the UK.