Menstruation From Stigma To Normalization - Building Gender Inclusivity At The Workplace
Author: LawSphereX
Category: Labour & Employment
Published:
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MENSTRUATION FROM STIGMA TO NORMALIZATION:
BUILDING GENDER INCLUSIVITY AT THE WORKPLACE
Isha Tiwari, PhD Scholar, Bennett University
ABSTRACT
Menstruation is a natural biological process, though it is considered taboo in society across the globe. The workplace should build an inclusive environment for the women who menstruate in discomfort. The stigma attached to menstruation is a man-made notion that needs to be addressed through effective laws and policies. Law is considered a tool to achieve justice, and policies are manifestations of the law through which the State is subject to fulfill the constitutional obligation. Neither international laws, conventions, treaties, nor national laws and policies effectively address the menstruation issue. However, there is scientific evidence and literature available which shows that women are suffering extreme pain during menstruation.
Bihar was the only State in India that made a two-day menstruation leave policy in a month for public employment in the last decade of the twentieth century. Recently, a few law schools have been started to provide two days of menstrual leave for women in a month. Conversely, India needs comprehensive laws and policies to cater to the needs of society for gender justice. Menstruation health and hygiene (MHH) is a concept that helps to provide a dignified and healthy living condition for women in the workplace. Methodologically, this paper will cover the doctrinal and qualitative methods to identify the root cause of menstruation stigma and its solution. The authors of this paper have two central questions to address. Firstly, the researchers will address the shame and taboo existing in the workplace concerning menstruating women.
Secondly, the researchers proposed a comprehensive supportive environment to increase women's productivity in the workplace through legal and policy interventions. Keywords: Menstruation, workplace, gender inclusivity, gender justice
Introduction
Menstruation is a natural biological process which needs no stigmatization. The old age practices which are followed as a part of custom or culture is dominating women. The women in today’s time are working in every sector though they have been facing the discriminatory practices due to menstruation. Menstruation is stigmatized by these practices with no sense of security for the women. Practices are both prevalent in the urban as well as the rural areas as they are followed as a part of culture. The women need to be safeguarded by these practices as it could harm their mental, physical and emotional wellbeing. During the time of menstruation, the hormones play a crucial role by which a female faces a lot of mood disturbances as well as health issues. Domination of women in any society from home to the working place can take the society a step down.
Menstruation need not be stigmatized instead it needs to be sensitized to every man as well as the women. The children from a basic school level should also be taught about menstruation as a natural biological process and not a thing that need to be stigmatized. 1 The basic problem with females following the taboos is that they are not taught about the natural process of menstruation as well as they are brought up in the family in a way that they need to ashamed of menstruating. From decades menstruation is treated as a private and shameful issue. Proper accommodations are needed in the workplace for female who menstruate. It leads to discomfort in the professional outlook. Indian women have significantly faced a lot of barriers in their work environment due to several reasons that are surrounding them with disrespect and shame.
2 One of the barriers while working for their carrier is menstruation, it is a natural process though it holds shame, stigma, and illness either mental or physical. The workplace not being inclusive can be problematic for an individual woman and for the society at large. The working sector could change this scenario by creating a safe environment for the females in the offices or working place. Education is necessary for the sake of growth of an individual either mentally or financially. The female is working in the higher positions though they are not even to talk about menstruation openly in the working places too. Inclusivity in the workplace can promote equality and foster diversity among all the genders.
3 Gender inclusivity in the workplace can be beneficial for the companies 1 Narang & Tanya, Driving diversity, equity and inclusivity in workplaces and education via menstrual health management, (2022) MPRA, Driving diversity, equity and inclusivity in workplaces and education via menstrual health management Munich Personal RePEc Archive (uni-muenchen. de), ( last accessed on: 15/10/2024). 2 Importance of Inclusivity in Workspace for Women in India, (2024), Exploring the Strength of Inclusivity in Workspace for Women (kinaracapital. com), (last accessed on: 02/10/2024). 3 Catherine Ferland, How to create gender-inclusive workplace, (2019), How to create a gender-inclusive workplace - The Predictive Index, (last accessed on: 02/10/2024). as it can enhance the productivity of every worker.
4 Menstruation in the workplace needs to be addressed as it could bring inclusivity in all possible ways. A workplace which is inclusive and supportive for the females who menstruate can be a great step for removing the stigma, shame and well-being of the female workers. The barriers in the workplace regarding the women working need to be focused and solved by educating and spreading awareness. 5 By addressing the barriers which are violating the rights of female can bring a possible change of gender diversity with inclusivity at workplace. The paper focuses on the impact of menstruation on a woman in their workplace, the cultural taboos which is still putting female in a shameful environment in workplace. The paper will further argue the need for gender inclusivity in the workplace for the menstruating women.
The paper will suggest possible ways for the enactment of certain policies regarding the woman’s workplace to create a gender-neutral environment. Menstrual stigma: the historical aspect The stigma associated with menstruation is no doubt a worldwide stigma which was the outcome of a patriarchal society. Menstruation was not always from the historical aspect treated as the taboo or stigma, the Yogini temple at Orissa consisted of sculptures which glorified menstruation in its best way and now the society does not allow women to sleep on their usual beds or allow them to enter kitchen or temple. 6 The different names kept by the society like; mahina, chutti se hona, chhuth lgna, ashudh hona, etc, are also the reasons because of which menstruation became stigma in the society.
Historically the menstruation was the most impure thing which attract negative energy and is also used for dark magics. 7 The stigma has existed as a cultural belief from an ancient age. The law itself talks of the custom and usage developing as a law in the society itself. The norms of society are changing daily however the custom and related orthodox practices are still prevalent. The women though are talented but outcasted from several places only because they are menstruation or reproduce, which in a direct or 4 How to Foster a Gender-Inclusive Workplace, (2022), How to Foster a Gender-Inclusive Workplace — Holistic (holisticindex. com), (last accessed on: 2/10/2024).
5 Shamha Naseer, Breaking Barriers, Building Success: The Power of Gender Inclusivity in Business, (2024), Breaking Barriers, Building Success: The Power of Gender Inclusivity in Business | United Nations Development Programme (undp. org), ( last accessed on: 03/10/2024). 6 Tamanna Sharma, Until When Will the Menstrual Stigmas Continue? Time for Change, Time for a New Policy,
4 Issue 6 Indian J.L., (2023).
7 Radha Paudel, Menstrual Discrimination and its Impact on Decent Work,
Menstrual_Discrimination_and_Decent_Workplace-libre. pdf (d1wqtxts1xzle7. cloudfront. net), (last accessed on: 15/10/2024). indirect way can affect their work. As a woman female can feel a lot of harassment and sexual assault too in their workplace which is the biggest discriminatory practice. 8 Menstruation is constantly considered to be an arguable and most binary process in the Hindu culture. 9 The concept of pure or pollutant is perceived by the society for menstruation, at one side it talks of purity by worshiping goddess in Kamakhya and on the other hand by stating a women as impure during menstruation. 10 The Kamakhya temple is one of the oldest temples where menstruating goddess is worshipped and is prevalent from a long way back. The times when discrimination was not so visible in society. Stigmatization towards menstruation is human made and not a natural thing.
The Indian cultural system has a predominant place in shaping the thinking of a woman’s or man’s thinking of the bodily process of a female. Firstly, the harassment of women menstruating starts from their own home and it goes to the workplace too. The way female is brought up in their family is solely responsible to build such taboos for their coming generation. The menstruator as well as people who are non-menstruator for the first time hear about menstruation from some jokes which their elder crack. This was the mentality of the society which shaped the menstruation in a negative way by citing it as wrong, shameful and stigmatized thing. 11 The female in society faced a lot of discrimination and is still facing the same by their families and as well as the society.
The female from 10 to 12 years is told not to enter the kitchen or to the temple as well as they are told not to participate in any family function when they are menstruating as it is inauspicious for them and the family too. Menstruating females start to behave differently when they start menstruating as they were told to do so. Breaking silence: Need for inclusivity Periods in a female life can be sometimes very debilitating, painful and can prevent woman from working in their day-to-day life, it could be the workplace or their daily home routine. 12 The menstruation stigma is being associated with it from a very ancient time which does not hold any such significance. The workplace struggle in a female life is always questionable as a female faces lot of discrimination in their workplace in several forms.
In the starting era when 8 Kayla Williams, Increasing Diversity in the Military: Recruiting and Retaining Talented Women, p. p 2-3, (2019). 9 Janet Chawla, Mythic Origins of Menstrual Taboo in Rig Veda, Vol. 29, No. 43, pp. 2817-2827, (1994).
10 Sravana Borkataky-Varma, Menstruation
Pollutant to Potent, pp. 931-933, (2022).
Radha Paudel, Menstrual Discrimination and its Impact on Decent Work, Menstrual_Discrimination_and_Decent_Workplace-libre. pdf (d1wqtxts1xzle7. cloudfront. net), (last accessed on: 15/10/2024). 12 Menstruation in the workplace, (2023), Menstruation in the workplace | BCLP - Bryan Cave Leighton Paisner (bclplaw. com), ( last accessed on: 10/10/2024). female was allowed to study the awareness at school level was so less. The girl at that early stage was also stopped from going to school or to study. The workplace will be in question once a girl is allowed to go to school and study without any discrimination. In the hilly areas of Uttarakhand, the girls during their menstruation does not go to the schools as if there will be any temple in between then they will be harmed by God.
Female though play a crucial role in shaping the life of their child but still a female does not tell her daughter or son about menstruation and tell them that this is just a natural biological process. 13 After the completing the education a totally different place where a female works, they are not still allowed to talk about menstruation openly. 14 People are still stating that if a female will menstruate and everyone will know about it then the female will feel ashamed of it. Menstruation is a stigma which needs to be eradicated from society. Many countries recently came up with the leave policy and introduced new policies regarding the menstruation. 15 Workplace need to manage and controlled in a way that it holds the human rights with it as well as it aids women to bring changes in the stigma related to menstruation.
Openly talking of menstruation at the workplace can be a beneficial step to minimize the shame and it will raise awareness among everyone in the work environment. Gender inclusivity at the workplace is always beneficial for the sector as it will enhance the productivity as well it will foster diversity among all. The initiative must be taken to incorporate gender equality, healthy security to female who menstruate. 16 India right now is in a position where the debate is existing on whether a female should get paid leave for menstruation. Some of the people are in favor of the leave to menstruating women and some are against it totally. The menstrual leave is something which is generally a necessity required to a female for better work productivity as they face a lot of pain.
17 The women in today’s time are at a position where they have outside worked or the field work 13 Tamanna Sharma, Until When Will the Menstrual Stigmas Continue? Time for Change, Time for a New Policy,
4 Issue 6 Indian J.L., (2023).
Raya Banerjee, Understanding Paid Menstrual Leaves: Insights And Implications For India, https://www. lawyersclubindia. com/articles/understanding-paid-menstrual-leaves-insights-andimplications-for-india--16656. asp, (last accessed on: 20/10/2024). 15 Meaghan Furlano, Disrupting menstrual stigma at work? A thematic analysis of menstrual leave policy announcements across five countries, (2024), Disrupting menstrual stigma at work? A thematic analysis of menstrual leave policy announcements across five countries: Culture, Health & Sexuality: Vol 0, No 0 (tandfonline. com). 16 Celine Brassart Olsen, A Blessing or a Curse? An Analysis of Menstrual Health Promotion in the Workplace from a Human Rights Perspective, (2023), A Blessing or a Curse?
An Analysis of Menstrual Health Promotion in the Workplace from a Human Rights Perspective: Nordic Journal of Human Rights: Vol 41, No 2 (tandfonline. com).
17 Sharishtha Lal, Menstrual Leave in India
A Closer Look, Menstrual Leave in India: A Closer Look (jusscriptumlaw. com), (last accessed on: 28/10/2024). which can affect the society also. On the other hand, the female is cracked as joke while they are menstruating so it can be a thing of conflict among the people of society. The corporate sector is all gearing up to come up with the policies that can help the female employ to overcome the taboo of menstruation and by providing them leave their mental and physical health will be benefited. The platforms like Zomato18 and other delivery apps are now accepting the fact that a female should feel free to mail regarding their menstruation by clearly stating that they want leave because they are on their menstruation and in pain too. These apps are clearly looking up for the female employs by creating a gender diverse as well as gender inclusive field for work.
Many colleges, universities right now are also considering the need of women to take rest during their periods. 19 The workplace should be always inclusive of the fact that positive discrimination is also they’re by the Constitution as well which is not a discrimination towards women though it is a way of providing positive rights to the women. The workplace dynamics are ever evolving since era, it changes with time according to the need of society. The debate of menstrual leave is currently a highly neglected topic. Suggestion The author has suggested possible ways by which the road towards support for female who menstruate can be built in their workplace: • Firstly, the author suggests enacting certain policies in the legal framework that is by providing menstrual paid leave policy which is beneficial for the women as well as for the company.
• Secondly, there can be accommodations for the female like they can be given choice for flexible working or remote work option, so that they can work as well as rest in their home. • Thirdly, rest areas can be made for resting during menstruation in the offices. • Fourthly, anti-discrimination laws can be enacted where providing leave to the menstruator should not be a ground to discriminate them. • Lastly, awareness and proper education regarding menstruation should be given from 18 Introducing period leaves for women, (2020), Introducing period leaves for women (zomato. com), (last accessed on: 28/10/2024).
19 NLIU Bhopal Introduces Menstrual Leave Policy, (2024),
https://www. scconline. com/blog/post/2024/02/27/nliu-bhopal-introduces-menstrual-leave-policy/, (last accessed on: 20/10/2024). an early age to both men and women. Conclusion The barrier of stigma associated to menstruation in the workplace plays a dominant role while creating a gender inclusive environment. The paper dealt with the historical cultural and religious taboo and further discussed the role of creating a safe space in the workplace for the menstruating women. The women change society by changing herself in a way that it could create impact on lives of other people. Society needs to look forward to a better working environment. The corporate sector evolving their policies according to the need of time, they must now look upon the policies regarding menstruation.
menstruation is not a taboo or anything for which a female should feel ashamed it is just a simple natural biological process. The process which brings a new live into existence and is a basic need for every human not only the women but for everyone. The paper though has talked about existing gaps in the policies which are due to the stigma that is their regarding to menstruation. Lastly, the research focused on building an inclusive working environment for all with gender neutral policies in the context of menstruation.