The The Spanish government is studying the possibility of introducing sick leave for women who suffer from especially painful menstruationa pioneering measure in Europe that does not arouse unanimity either within the Executive or among the unions.
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The measure could be included in a bill on abortion aimed at consolidating the right to voluntary interruption of pregnancy and reproductive rights, which is expected to be approved by the cabinet on Tuesday.
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“We are going to recognize by Law the right of women with painful menstruations special temporary disability that will be paid for by the State from day one,” Equality Minister Irene Montero, leader of the far-left party Podemos, a minority partner in the government coalition with the president’s socialists, wrote on Twitter on Friday. Peter Sanchez.
However, it was unknown if the discussions within the Executive actually led to an agreement between Podemos and the socialist ministers who occupy the economic portfolios on the exact scope of this “menstrual low”.
We are advancing so that it is no longer normal to go to work in pain and to end the stigma, shame and silence around periods. We advance in rights.
– Irene Montero (@IreneMontero) May 13, 2022
According to the Spanish media that have had access to a preliminary version of the bill, prepared by the Ministry of Equality, the duration of this permit would be three days, with the possibility of extending it by two more days in case of acute symptoms. based on a medical certificate.
From Podemos they insist that it is about covering those periods that cause disabling pain, not “a slight discomfort,” said the Secretary of State for Equality, Ángela Rodríguez, also from Podemos.
Stigma risks
In recent years, some countries have introduced in their legislation the right to “menstrual leave”especially in Asia, but so far no European country has done so.
In France, some companies allow their female employees to stop working during menstruation, but “menstrual leave” is not included in the law or in collective agreements. In this way, Spain once again appears as a pioneer in Europe in terms of women’s rights.
But the debate is intense because, while the most leftist wing of the government promotes it, some socialist ministers are reticentfearing that such a measure, due to its high cost, is actually counterproductive, by “stigmatizing” women and encouraging the hiring of male employees.
Thus, the Minister of Economy, Nadia Calviño, showed her reservations. She is working on “different drafts” of this law, she said, before warning that “the government will not take any action that stigmatizes women.” There is also no unanimity among the unions.
“We cannot put the focus on women again,” warned Cristina Antoñanzas, deputy secretary general of the UGT (General Union of Workers), in statements to Antena 3 television, expressing her fear of measures that “are going to discriminate or hinder our entry into the job market.
For the Workers’ Commissions (CCOO), the other major Spanish union, on the other hand, the menstruation leave is “perfectly justified”, according to its general secretary, Unai Sordo.
We are talking about rules in which women lose consciousness or cannot get out of bed, because they really cannot walk, urinate, or go to the bathroom.
Ana Ferrer, from the Association of Women Affected by Endometriosis (ADAEC), a gynecological condition that has particularly painful periods among its symptoms, considered that, “more than a sick leave (medical), we need recognition of our disability in casesobviously, in which this disability is presented,” he explained to AFP.
“When that happens, it is no longer a matter of medical leave, it is a matter of going to the gynecologist and being able to find a diagnosis,” explained Ferrer, lamenting that the bill, in the terms in which it has transpired, is causing “discrimination and mockery.”
The introduction of the “menstrual permit” would be one of the emblematic measures of the bill, but not the only one. The Ministry of Equality wants to include the total abolition of VAT on feminine hygiene products.
The text also plans to increase access to abortion in public hospitals and allow minors to abort without their parents’ permission from the age of 16.
Abortion in Spain was decriminalized in 1985 and then legalized in 2010, but the interruption of pregnancy remains a difficult right to exercise in a country with a strong Catholic tradition, where conscientious objection by doctors is very numerous and where movements anti-abortionists are very active.
INTERNATIONAL WRITING
*With information from AFP
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