Women stand divided on the menstrual leave debate

While a few Indian companies have initiated a menstrual leave policy, women stand divided on the matter. For some, it would be better to normalise period talk further and take such a leave, others agree that a period leave can act as a hindrance in hiring of women.


‘It may place women at a disadvantage as biases may grow, promotions may become less accessible’Women feel that the decision should be left on them – whether they wish to work, or want to be at home, while they are on their periods. Chandana Agarwal, a senior corporate executive, says, “It’s a very personal and intimate detail and the stipulation to make it public is an invasion of privacy for me. It makes me uncomfortable as a woman to not have a choice on how I want to deal with my body. At a rudimentary level it is akin to the old and patriarchal practice of banishing women from kitchen and temples in the days of yore. The corporate conversation is still rife with the usage of phrases like ‘looks like it’s that time of the month’ or ‘seems like she is PMSing’. Like the clothes that a woman wears and the colours she chooses on certain days, this is bound to objectify a woman further.” She adds an employer’s perspectivetoo. “From an employer’s perspective, it may place women at a disadvantage as biases against them may increase and some high pressure jobs or promotions may become less accessible. I think there is a lot that can be done to make it easier on those days for the women who indeed suffer but no blanket policy is required nor will it be effective.”

Dr Hena Singh, Professor in Department of Political Science, Miranda House, agrees as she points out, “I remember during my adolescence, people in my local surroundings, used to say that don’t go out during those three-four days. However, my family my mother and my aunt, who is a doctor, encouraged us to view it as a natural biological process rather than limitation. If someone genuinely needs to take rest, they can take any kind of leave, but I am not in favour of making it mandatory. I think it will also impact people hiring women and ours is a girls’ college, imagine most of us being on leave during a month if this becomes mandatory.”

‘Women should have the option to take period leave without making excuses for a natural phenomenon’While we are trying to make period talk ‘normal’, how many of us convey this to our male bosses that we need to take a leave because we have period pain? Neha Shah, a Delhi-based social media manager, says, “We all have different pain thresholds, and I genuinely can’t work during the first two days. Some people have endometriosis, and since we do not have mandatory menstrual leaves yet, nobody really mentions that they needto take leave for this. Even if you don’t have a medical condition, you can still have bad period days. So, instead of just saying that you have a ‘stomach ache’, you can simply mark a leave under the menstrual leave category.”

Sanjana Saxena, a student from a private university, says, “I feel, instead of making it a mandatory leave, women should have the option to avail a period leave if they feel so without having to give random excuses for a natural phenomenon.”

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