Women With Severe Pains To Be Granted Leave From Work In Spain
Spanish women will soon be able to take time out of work for extremely painful menstruation with the passing of legislation allowing for extra sick leave.
According to the administration, the bill, which was approved with 185 votes in favor and 154 votes against, aims to end the stigma around the subject.
Irene Montero, the equality minister, tweeted “It is a historic day for feminist progress” before voting on several pieces of legislation having feminist perspectives.
The law grants employees with period pain the right to take as much time off as they require, with the state social security system—not employers—covering the cost of the sick time.
Every doctor must approve temporary medical incapacity, just like with paid leave for other medical conditions.
The new regulation makes no mention of how long doctors will be permitted to award women who are having painful periods of sick time.
According to the Spanish Gynaecology and Obstetrics Society, a third of menstruating women experience severe discomfort.
Politicians and unions disagree with the measure, and the UGT, one of Spain’s biggest unions, has warned that it may stigmatize women in the workplace and favour the hiring of men.
The conservative Popular Party (PP), the main opponent, also cautioned that the law might stigmatize women and have “negative consequences in the labour force” for them.
One of the most important provisions of the broader law, which also allows for more access to abortion in public hospitals, is “menstrual leave.”
Fewer than 15% of abortions carried out in the nation take place in such institutions, primarily due to medical professionals’ moral reservations.
Read Also: Viewers Discretion Chaos Breaks Out As Several Snakes Fall Through The Roof
The new law also eliminates a requirement put in place by a previous conservative administration in 2015 that prohibited children at 16 and 17 from getting abortions without parental consent.
A discussion on reproductive health was long overdue, according to former minister for equality Ingela Rodriguez, when it was proposed on March 3, 2022.
“The rights related to menstrual health have never been discussed and the data is chilling,” Rodriguez told El Periodico.
“One in four women cannot choose the feminine hygiene products she wants to buy for financial reasons. That is why we propose that they can be dispensed free of charge in educational and social centres.”
Abortion was made legal in Spain in 1985. Notwithstanding, a regulation that permits women to freely choose abortion within the first 14 weeks of pregnancy was passed in 2010.
