From being fiercely debated on social media platforms, the issue over women being granted menstrual leave was taken up at the Kerala Assembly on Friday. This came after Congress MLA KS Sabarinadhan’s calling attention motion seeking a provision for period leave in all sectors.
Replying to the MLA’s submission, Kerala Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan promised that the government would formulate a stand after considering various aspects of the issue.
He also pointed out that earlier there was a practice of women being ostracised during menstruation, and as a result one had to ensure that women are not treated differently by allotting menstrual leave.
“We know that women have got different problems during their menstrual cycle. Now discussions are there regarding the period. But we should also look at the other side of this. There were practices of women being secluded during their period. We cannot say those practices have come to an end. We have to also consider that such leave will not lead to the isolation of women at workplaces. Women’s privacy also needs to be considered before taking necessary action,” the CM said in the assembly.
In his submission, Sabarinadhan MLA argued that all workplaces in the state should have period leave for women and that has to begin from the assembly itself. He noted that several countries including Japan, Taiwan and Indonesia were granting period leave to employees, and also said:
We used to discuss about the security and harassment of women at workplace. We have to give due consideration to their menstrual and reproductive health care also.
Incidentally, Malayalam news channel Mathrubhumi News was the first firm to allot period leave in Kerala. The decision received much appreciation.
Following Mathrubhumi News’ footsteps was the All Kerala Self-Financing Schools Federation (AKSFSF), a forum for unaided private schools, which announced a one-day paid period leave for women employees.
(This article was originally published on The News Minute.)
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