Lower house Spanish lawmakers on Thursday approved a bill that would grant paid medical leave to women who suffer from severe period pain, becoming the first European country to advance this type of legislation.
Spain's left-wing government said the legislation – which passed its first reading by 190 votes in favour to 154 against and five abstentions – was also aimed at breaking a taboo on the subject.
Ophélie Latil, a member of feminist organisation Georgette Sand, echoed this sentiment. "The subject of periods shouldn’t be seen as taboo, something that is just a private matter, but rather something that the state and government addresses like a public health issue."
Menstrual leave is currently offered only in a small number of countries across the globe, among them Japan, Indonesia and Zambia.
The bill will now go to the Senate and, if changed, will return to the lower house for another vote before becoming law.
The legislation entitles workers experiencing period pain to as much time off as they need, with the state’s social security system – and not employers – picking up the tab.
As with paid leave for other health reasons, it must be approved by a doctor.
Spanish Equality Minister Irene Montero hailed the move as a step forward in addressing a health problem that has been largely swept under the carpet until now.
"We are recognising menstrual issues as part of the right to health and we are fighting against both the stigma and the silence," she told AFP.
French feminist organisations, NGOs react
This legislation, however, hasn’t been welcomed with open arms by French feminist organisations or EndoFrance, an association created in 2001 to support women suffering from endometriosis.
"It’s good that women who have painful periods can take time off," says Yasmine Candau, president of EndoFrance. "But simply offering a few days off every month without following it up with measures that will lead to treatment or care is not going to solve the problem and is insufficient for women who suffer from painful periods and conditions like endometriosis."
She adds that the best path for companies to take would be to encourage women to meet with their doctor to get a medical diagnosis for their pain.
"I think there is good intention behind this law, but I’m personally afraid that it will have negative effects on women," says Fabienne El-Khoury, a spokeswoman for the feminist association Osez le Féminisme (Dare to be Feminist), as it is "sending the message that pain is normal, thus making women’s pain invisible and normalised".
Latil agrees: "If we send home women suffering from painful periods, we’re merely hiding the problem rather than trying to resolve the problem." El-Khoury believes that a more productive route would be to invest more money into researching how to eliminate the pain associated with periods since it is a widespread problem, with 10 percent of women and girls of reproductive age worldwide suffering from endometriosis.
"A lot of work on endometriosis tends to focus on how it affects a woman’s fertility, but little research is done on how pain associated with this illness affects a woman’s quality of life and how to treat it. Women often have to endure pain for years until they receive a diagnosis," El-Khoury says.
"We at Osez le Féminisme are worried that women will continue to think it’s normal to be in pain while they’re on their period and not seek out screenings and medical diagnoses to see if they are suffering from a condition," says El-Khoury. She is also concerned that this law could lead to further discrimination at work, as employers are often already hesitant to hire women of reproductive age, even though such discrimination is illegal.
Latil says that her organisation as a whole would be against this law being implemented in France unless it was accompanied by other measures, such as ensuring that offices provide sanitary products to their staff, offer adequate rest areas and provide education on health conditions related to painful periods. Furthermore, she says the government could help by providing better reimbursement for alternative medicine, as it has been found to help alleviate pain associated with endometriosis.
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"This is the first time that a law has been passed that deals with the issue of periods in the workplace and that is important because one out of three women have missed work due to their period. So it certainly has an impact on their professional lives and demonstrates that work spaces aren’t adapted to women of reproductive age," says Maud Leblon, head of the association Règles Élémentaires (Simple Periods).
"Although it is a good initiative, this is not a one-size-fits-all solution, as many women are in pain as they are suffering from illnesses that haven’t been diagnosed," she says. In addition to this law, which is "only a first step", Leblon would like to see more effort made to educate people about periods in schools and workplaces, provide sanitary products to financially insecure people and have more research and funding invested in how to treat women who suffer from period pain.
She also questions whether women will take companies up on this paid menstrual leave, as it will be impossible to maintain anonymity. In Japan for instance, where menstrual leave has been in place since 1947, less than 10 percent of women regularly apply for it.
Division among Spanish politicians and unions
Equality Minister Montero belongs to the hard-left Podemos party, the junior partner in Spain's Socialist-led coalition, which has been the driving force behind the law.
Although the initial draft said women would have access to sick leave "without limit", there was no mention of that in the text passed on Thursday.
About a third of women who menstruate suffer from severe pain, according to the Spanish Gynaecology and Obstetrics Society.
However, the proposal has created division among both politicians and unions, with the UGT, one of Spain's largest trade unions, warning it could stigmatise women in the workplace and favour the recruitment of men.
The bill also bolsters access to abortion services in public hospitals, a right that remains fraught in a country with a strong Catholic tradition. It also ends the requirement for minors of 16 and 17 to obtain parental consent before having an abortion.
Spain has taken a leading role in advancing women's rights, passing Europe's first law against domestic violence in 2004, and its current cabinet boasts more women than men.
(FRANCE 24 with AFP)
