Good News For Women, Spain Will Be The First Country In Europe To Introduce 3 Days Of Menstrual Leave

Menstruation illustration. (Unsplash/Sasun Bughdaryan)

JAKARTA - Spain could become the first Western country to allow women to take several days of menstrual leave from work each month under a proposed new law set to be passed next week.

The Spanish government is expected to approve the measure, as part of a wider bill on reproductive health and abortion rights, details of which are expected to be disclosed on Tuesday, according to national media.

The proposed law would introduce at least three sick days each month for women suffering from severe menstrual pain, according to the El Pais newspaper.

The newspaper reports that this 'medically supervised leave' can even be extended to five days, for women with disabling periods who suffer from severe cramping, nausea, dizziness and vomiting.

Worldwide, menstrual leave is currently only offered in a small number of countries including Japan, Taiwan, Indonesia, South Korea and Zambia.

"If this Spanish law is passed and if it is paid leave, it will set a new global standard, the gold standard," Elizabeth Hill, a professor at the University of Sydney who has extensively studied menstrual leave policies around the world, told Euronews Next, as quoted May 13.

Menstruation illustration. (Unsplash/Annika Gordon)

According to the Spanish Gynecology and Obstetrics Society, about a third of women who have their periods suffer from severe pain known as dysmenorrhea. Symptoms include acute abdominal pain, diarrhea, headache, and fever.

"When a problem cannot be resolved medically, we think it is very reasonable that there should be a temporary disability associated with this issue," Spain's Foreign Minister for Gender Equality and Violence Angela Rodríguez, told the newspaper El Periodico in a recent interview. this.

"It is important to clarify what a painful period is, we are not talking about slight discomfort, but about serious symptoms like diarrhea, severe headache, fever," he added.

The proposal for this period of leave was not a done deal, and has caused some controversy in Spain. The country's own left-wing coalition government is reportedly divided over the plan.

In a statement to the news agency Europa Press on Thursday, Economy Minister Nadia Calviño, a Socialist, said some of the draft plans were still under discussion.

"Let me repeat very clearly, this government believes in and is truly committed to gender equality, and we will never adopt measures that could result in the stigmatization of women," said Calviño.

The bill would also reduce VAT on feminine hygiene products in stores, making menstrual period products available free of charge in schools and education centres.

According to El Pais, it would make menstrual health part of the Spaniard's right to health, and it would set out "stereotypes and myths about menstruation that still exist and that stand in the way of women's lives".