When Will Society Consider Menstrual Leaves For Homemakers?

Spain has announced menstrual leave for working women. Bihar is India’s only state in India to provide government-approved menstrual leaves. India is going to hear the case of implanting menstrual leave for working women in the entire country. But what about women who are homemakers? Do they get any rest from work for debilitating menstrual pain?

In our country, menstruation is usually covered in taboos. People are reluctant to speak about it in open. Pads and period talks are wrapped in silence and secret. Menstruating women are considered impure, and dangerous for men, God and plants and pickles. People force women to have a child but ignore them when they menstruate which is important for pregnancy. Hypocrisy much?

However, change is around the corner. People are gradually accepting periods and period leaves as a necessity for women. Today, the debate around menstrual leave is stronger than ever. Everyone is discussing the relevance and importance of menstrual leave.

This is all a good sign as we are progressing when it comes to women’s biology which is often an under-researched area. But there is one problem. Menstrual leave is being discussed only for working women which very easily ignores homemakers. As in, homemakers do not have any right or policy addressing their discomfort during periods.

Not only menstrual leaves, but women who are homemakers do not have sick leaves also. Remember, during the second wave of COVID-19, an image of a woman cooking while being supported by an oxygen cylinder went viral? That shows how women who work at home are rarely given a day off, even if they are suffering from a serious illness. In that case, is it ever possible for the government to allow menstrual leave to them?

Menstrual Leaves For Homemakers

It is not that women who are homemakers have different bodily functions from working women. Both of them have periods and both of them can suffer from pain, PCOD, endometriosis or other period-related diseases. But why should menstrual leave policies be benefitted by working women alone?

In our society, the assumption is that housework is the duty of a woman. That women are born to perform housework as to live. The very significance of their life lies in taking care of the family no matter what comes. Moreover, performing housework is undermined as a task that requires less effort and provides luxury and leisure. But that is just not true.

How many times have you seen your mothers or wives resting at home? How many times have you come across a day when no food is cooked at your home? How many times have you walked into the kitchen to make the food because the women in you are ‘resting’?

Barely for a week or two. While female homemakers constantly work despite discomfort because if they stop, the entire family will come to a halt. No food, no cleanliness and no hygiene will automatically impact the lives of every family member.

Even then, female homemakers are not valued. Their health and well-being are taken for granted. And this is the reason why women’s health issues are ignored.

Moreover, we have to accept that most of the women in our society are homemakers. This is not an assumption but a fact based on research. Only 32 per cent of women in the workforce are married. 73 per cent of women quit their jobs post-pregnancy. In such cases, will menstrual leave even benefit women if it doesn’t apply to half of the women in our country? Is it not right that women are mainly expected to work in the kitchen rather than in cabins? Then how is menstrual leave that applies only to those in the cabin even beneficial?

In some houses, as Ragini Daliya from SheThePeople said, women are not allowed to work during their periods- like entering the kitchen, touching food etc. However, we cannot consider this as the reason why women who are homemakers rest during their periods. This idea stems from a patriarchal mindset that considers periods as impure and hence dealt with as untouchables.

To normalise period leave for homemakers, it is necessary to first accept that housework is a task too. That homemaker is a profession too that should be recognised, valued or even awarded with a paycheck. Once this is done, it will be easier to apply the menstrual leave policy for homemakers too.

Views expressed are the author's own. 

Suggested Reading: Housework Isn’t Easy. It Deserves Respect And A Paycheck