Does ‘period leave’ help combat the stigma attached to menstruation?
- By Chloe Tingle
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- 26 Apr, 2017
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Our new volunteer, Becky, considers the debate on period leave
The question of whether women should receive ‘period leave’ has been a hot topic of debate ever since Dr Grudzinkas said that it would boost a woman’s motivation and productivity in the workplace. But would being given up to three days a month of paid ‘period leave’ help to break down menstrual taboos? Or will it make things worse?
I’m totally guilty of it – stuffing a sanitary pad up my sleeve so that I don’t have to walk past my colleagues with it in view. Never, ever wearing light coloured clothes when I’m on my period, just in case I end up with blood stains on my clothes. And refusing to take sick leave because I don’t want to have to tell anyone that it’s my time of the month, even if my cramps are so bad I can’t stand up properly. So will ‘period leave’ help us talk more openly about menstruation and go some towards stopping many of the stigmas that surround it?
Last year, Bristol based Coexist made the headlines after announcing that they were going to bring in a “period policy” that would allow those suffering from painful periods to time off of work without declaring it as sick leave. Although the policy was introduced to make Coexist more work efficient, less than 6 months after it was introduced, staff reported that period embarrassment had become a thing of the past within the office environment. Women spoke freely about their periods and shared with their colleagues what stage in their cycle they were at. By encouraging female staff to mirror their workloads to their natural bodily cycles, Coexist employers felt like menstrual taboos had been combatted in their office.
So ‘period leave’ can’t be a bad thing, right?
Well, some believe that it is. That’s because not everyone thinks that ‘period leave’ will help to tackle menstrual stigma. By taking a day or two off from work to rest, some worry that women will be seen as ‘weak’ and unable to cope with the way that their bodies naturally function. We’ve been fighting for years for equal recognition in the workplace, and submitting to our bodies in such a way could undo the rights that we’ve won over the decades.
Some worry that such a policy will result in society taking three steps backward, and bosses will once again feel like discriminatory ‘favouring’ is justified just as it once was because of women taking maternity leave. Female employers who don’t take ‘period leave’, along with their male counterparts, will be favoured over those who do choose to take the time off, increasing the stigmas attached to menstruation. A ‘period policy’ would be counterproductive and would actually make it harder for women suffering from painful periods to take the time off they need.
And others argue that encouraging women to stay at home when on their periods will push talk about periods even further behind doors – out of sight out of mind, after all.
It seems that the debate cannot be easily solved. What is clear, however, is that we should be working towards demystifying periods and making sure that no woman is made to feel ashamed or embarrassed. Unfortunately, the question of whether this will be achieved by a national ‘period policy’ is much harder to answer.
What do you think? Comment below and let us know your thoughts!
WOW Women of the World festivals have been popping up across the world, if you get the chance to go along to one we would strongly recommend it.
WOW – Women of the World festival celebrates women and girls, and looks at the obstacles that stop them from achieving their potential.
Around the world, individuals and communities are insisting on the simple proposition that women and girls must have equal rights and asking the question: why is gender equality taking so long?
Southbank Centre's WOW – Women of the World festival is a global network of festivals which provides a platform for celebrating what has been achieved, and exploring all the ways we can change the world for the better.
What’s not to love?
Our Founder, Chloe, and her Mum Angela went along to represent No More Taboo with a stall across the two days. Here’s her highlights:
“Although we didn’t get much time to take in all the discussions as we were kept busy wo-manning the stall (thanks Mum for helping out)! We had some great discussions around gender, equality, inclusivity and of course periods with new customers, supporters, other panellists and some old friends who came to see us.
In fact, we were really pleased to catch up with Plan International UK who were opening the festival with a discussion about Period Activism exactly one year on since the launch of our #BreaktheBarriers research and Period Poverty Conference that we ran in collaboration with Plan.
On the first weekend of September, No More Taboo set up shop at Lush Cribbs Causeway for their Charity Pot weekend.
The Lush Charity Pot is a wonderfully creamy shea-butter hand lotion where all the sales money (excluding VAT) goes towards a chosen charity or non-for-profit. This scheme is designed to help boost grass-roots, small and local organisations, like ourselves, financially so that we can continue to do the work we do such as our Tackling Period Poverty programme.
As we were Lush’s chosen organisation for the weekend of the 1-2 September, one of our volunteers, Iloni, and one of our advisors, Carolyn, went along to wo-man the (suitably Lush-styled aesthetic) stall that Lush had kindly provided for us. We took along a range of our products, stacks of leaflets and information as well as our enthusiasm for talking about all things to do with periods.
Over the weekend, we sold over £200’s worth of stock with Ruby Cups and Honour Your Flow re-usable pads proving most popular with Lush customers. On top of this, Lush sold so many of their Charity Pots that £340.60 was raised for No More Taboo – which was amazing!
However exciting the money side of things were with this event, what I personally took away as being the real highlight of the weekend was the number and nature of conversations we shared with customers.
Mothers and daughters came and chatted to us about how they agreed it was so important to use re-usable products for personal and financial reasons as well as for the planet’s sake. Boyfriends accompanied their other halves as they prodded and probed the range of menstrual cups on display. Older women commented on how it’s such a relief to be able to talk about menstruation in public and with people you’ve only just met. They regaled of a time when periods were even more hush-hush and celebrated with us out mission of there being No More Taboo.
We would like to thank Lush Cribbs Causeway for being such wonderful hosts, encouraging every customer that came through their doors to consider buying the Charity Pot or simply to chat with us. Each member of their staff team was incredibly warm and so keen to find out more about what we do. On behalf of all of us at No More Taboo, thank you.
For more information, take a look at their website: https://www1.uwe.ac.uk/whatson/biggreenweek.aspx
Read more here: https://www.wen.org.uk/environmenstrual-week-of-action/
