Recently, food delivery giant Zomato recently announced a 10-day paid period leave annually for its menstruating employees. Zomato’s ‘period leave’ policy has triggered a debate among the Indian society where menstruation is still considered a taboo. The move is to combat the stigma around the issue.
“There shouldn’t be any shame or stigma attached to applying for a period leave,” Zomato chief executive Deepinder Goyal said in a note to staff. He further added, “You should feel free to tell people on internal groups, or emails that you are on your period leave for the day.”
Many women’s rights activists have welcomed the idea, but some have argued that this will further exclude women from exploring various opportunities the same as their male counterparts.
Sorry Zomato, as woke as your decision on #PeriodLeave is, this is exactly what ghettoizes women and strengthens biological determinism. We cannot want to join the infantry, report war, fly fighter jets, go into space, want no exceptionalism and want period leave. PLEASE.
— barkha dutt (@BDUTT) August 11, 2020
On a personal account, as someone who experiences unbearable menstrual cramps during my periods, I have welcomed this decision wholeheartedly. Former actor and writer, Twinkle Khanna, took to Twitter and said, “Are we saying we can’t give women leave or the prospect of working from home for that one day? My opinion of gritting our teeth and bearing it, fighting our biology so we can say we are as good as men have changed over time. We are equal, not identical #EqualNotIdentical.”
Are we really saying we can’t give women leave or the prospect of working from home for that one day? My opinion of gritting our teeth and bearing it,fighting our biology so we can say we are as good as men has changed over time. We are equal, not identical #EqualNotIdentical https://t.co/6mPMOcEeYk
— Twinkle Khanna (@mrsfunnybones) August 12, 2020
All women experience different types of menstrual cycles. While some experienced excessive pain and cramps (dysmenorrhea), others belong to the ‘pop-a-pill and go to work’ club. I have been a part of both clubs. While working in a newsroom, I never had the option of taking leave during my periods. Hence popping a pill and going to work was something more than a necessity.
However, there were days when taking multiple pain-killers would not reduce my pain, so I had to ask for a day off or leave early during office hours. In such situations, the period leave policy kicks in. As activists, feminists, employers, and leaders, we should understand the fact that the menstruating body is different, and hence, needs a different protocol to stay healthy.
An anecdote shared by my grandmother might help readers to understand the need for this policy. In the earlier times, when women were barred from doing their everyday chores on the pretext of ‘being impure’ it supposedly was a way of making them take a break and rest during their cycles. Our bodies need to rest when we profusely bleed.
Everyone may not require an off but there should be a protocol for those who need it. According to The Endometriosis Society of India, nearly 2.5 crore Indian women suffer from endometriosis, a chronic pain disorder that affects roughly 1 in 10 women globally.
The idea of introducing a period of leave is not a new one. It has been making rounds around us for quite some time now. In 2018. a Lok Sabha MP from Arunachal Pradesh had moved a private member bill called the Menstruation Benefit Bill, 2017, which proposed two days of paid menstrual leave, every month, for women working in public and private sectors. India seems to be becoming a new member in the league of other countries, like Japan and South Korea, who have already provided this benefit to their employees.