This is not the first time that Smriti Irani has made a statement that has triggered women activists or led to polar views among the general public. In the ongoing Parliament session of Rajya Sabha, the Women and Child Development Minister spoke about the need to do away with paid leave on account of periods. "Given today women are opting for more and more economic opportunities, I will just put my personal view on this, I am not the officiating ministry. We should not propose issues where women are in some way denied an equal opportunity just because somebody who does not menstruate has a particular viewpoint towards menstruation," she said, citing that the availability of the provision to women could lead to discrimination against women in the workforce.
Irani was responding to a query on whether the Central government is looking at a law providing for menstrual leave to women like other countries. Rashtriya Janata Dal MP Manoj Kumar Jha asked the supplementary question and pointed out that Bihar under Chief Minister Lalu Prasad Yadav was the first state to have a menstrual leave policy in place.
While many Netizens schooled Irani on how period leave is not a vacation and given the increasing lifestyle diseases, painful periods are more common than desired, Mama Earth co-founder Ghazal Alagh proposed a middle ground. "Period leaves will undermine women's decade-long progress against inequality in my view...As women we've been struggling for far too long to get a level playing field. But now if we take a stand for period leaves, then it would be all lost. We want to be valued for our skills and contributions, not the menstrual cycles...Instead, we can provide women with a choice to work from home if she has period cramps. Let's not reverse the progress we have made so far."
Kangana Ranaut agrees with Smriti Irani
Among those offering immediate vocal support to Irani, has actor Kangana Ranaut who echoed similar sentiments on her social media account. "Working women are a myth, there hasn't been a single non-working woman in the history of mankind, from farming to house chores to raising kids, women have always been working and nothing has come in the way of their commitment to their families or community or nation. Unless it's some specific medical condition, women don't need paid leaves for periods. Please understand it's periods, not some illness or handicap."
Spain gives three days of paid menstrual leave every month!
In February of this year, Spain became the first European country to entitle its women workforce with the right to three days of menstrual leave a month. Women there also have the option of extending the leave to five days, if they experience painful periods. While passing numerous other sexual and reproductive rights laws, the country's equality minister Irene Montero said in the parliament, "Without such rights, women are not full citizens." The government in the country pays for the menstrual leave provision. Closer home in Asia, Japan's period leave has been in place for more than 70 years, while South Korea adopted period leave in 1953. There are many other countries like Taiwan (three days per year) and Indonesia (two days per cycle) that have some or other provision in place for menstruating women. For the rest of the nations, the conversation and debate around periods has long begun.
