Menstrual leave: a misguided good idea

Some months ago Spain has voted in favour of menstrual leave. While the recognition of women's pain during menstruation may be a step forward, there is a strong risk of stigmatisation, and therefore the potential for discrimination in the business world.?

I founded JUMP in 2005. I have made it my mission to promote equality between women and men in the workplace. Over the last 20 years, the position of women in society has improved overall, but we've reached a tipping point over the last 5 years.

Just a year ago, I called out my outrage on a TV show about gender equality, when the journalist asked the very last question of the programme "What do you think about menstrual leave?”. I lashed out at him, explaining to him it was a diversion from the real issues. The countries he was citing as examples (Zambia, Japan, South Korea, and Indonesia) are amongst the most macho in the world, which just goes to show that menstrual leave is used to keep women out of work and disqualify them by virtue of their biology, which no diploma can ever compensate for.?

But this year, Spain voted in favour of menstrual leave covered by social security in the case of incapacitating periods linked to a pathological situation. Along with France, Spain is the only country in Europe that is still making progress on issues of equality in the workplace, thanks to a strong feminist civil society and a progressive government.?

Although not all feminists are in favour of this leave, and at least one Spanish trade union (UGT) is against it, fearing further stigmatisation of women in the labour market, it brings me to wonder about the Spanish vote.?

Women's "nature"

Women's biology has always been used as an argument to contain them to marriage and motherhood and keep them out of the economic and political spheres.

In 1888, the Brussels Court of Appeal prohibited Marie Popelin from practicing as a lawyer: "Given the particular nature of women, the relative weakness of their constitution, the reserved nature inherent to their sex, the protection they require, their special mission in humanity, the demands and constraints of motherhood, the education that they owe to their children, the management of the household and the domestic hearth entrusted to their care, this places them in conditions that are hardly reconcilable with the duties of the legal profession and gives them neither the leisure, nor the strength, nor the aptitudes necessary for the struggles and fatigue of the Bar".

?Apart from those poor women who had no choice but to work for poverty wages, we only began to step up in companies on a massive scale in the 1970s. Since then, we have become almost half of all employees and, on average, we are more qualified than men (60% of higher education qualifications are held by women). But the price we had to pay was assimilation. Until now, we had to be “one of the boys” if we wanted access to the same opportunities.

Companies built by men for men

Over the centuries, companies have been built by men for men. Even today, at equal competence and qualification levels, women remain the most discriminated category at work. The norm is masculine. So, it was out of the question to show that we were different, especially biologically!

Nothing should stand in the way of our productivity. Especially when you're a woman in a man's world. Even today, women in business don't have the same legitimacy as men (hence the famous impostor syndrome).

?The gender biases we all have negatively impact the way women's performance and skills are assessed. As women, we must constantly compensate for these biases by overperforming, by being better and more reliable. Most discrimination complaints relate to pregnancy, returning from maternity, or breastfeeding. These are the times when women are most vulnerable, but also those that are specific to them.

In a recent training of field sales teams in gender equality, I got them to compete on the following issue: one team had to defend the advantages of having women in their team and the other had to defend the disadvantages. To my total surprise, all the teams were quick to mention not only motherhood but also menstruation as a disadvantage!

Improved recognition and management of pain

According to an IFOP survey, 53% of French women say they have painful periods and 35% consider that this has a negative impact on their work. The most difficult working environments for such women are the jobs that require constant physical or mental effort (medical professions, supermarkets, households, teaching, etc.) as well as male-dominated sectors such as the police, firefighters, construction, etc.

These figures could be reduced if there was recognition and better support of pain and if women were better informed to avoid enduring suffering in their cyclical functions. Despite the massive number of women who suffer regularly or occasionally from pain specific to women, Spanish law is the first to recognise it.

As for Anglo-Saxon companies, they have another focus: support for women suffering from menopausal symptoms. In the UK, 90% of women say that their menopause affects their working life, and 12% have decided to leave their jobs because they felt their symptoms were incompatible with the demands of the workplace. Whatever their age, women will never be men like any other.?

The trap

Spain's Secretary of State for Equality and Gender Violence, ángela Rodríguez, explained that this measure would put Spain at the forefront "in terms of reproductive health and rights" and said that labour law "cannot be gender neutral".

She is absolutely right on this point because as long as gender equality has not been achieved to all intents and purposes, these inequalities must be recognised, measured and equity measures put in place to ensure equal opportunities.

But is Spain right to make the society (Social Security) pay for the 12 days of incapacity instead of companies, which must continue to pay their employees if they have a medical certificate and thus avoid discrimination?

While I salute the tremendous progress made by society in recognising and sharing women's pain, my knowledge of companies leads me to believe that their level of commitment to tackling gender inequality is often not sufficient to avoid the risk of stigmatisation and therefore potentially discrimination.

We'll see what happens in practice. Some public-sector employers in several European countries have introduced menstrual leave (albeit unpaid), Can this be transposed to the private sector without prejudice to women's careers? Spain's ambition is strong and fair. But the danger of a backlash is huge. Particularly at a time when gender equality is being rolled back in almost every country.

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