- Only a few nations around the world grant menstrual leave.
- Menstrual leave was included in a larger bill that improves access to abortion services.
- The new law also abolishes a condition put in place by a previous conservative administration in 2015.
The Spanish parliament approved a law on Thursday offering paid medical leave to women experiencing extreme period pain, making Spain the first nation in Europe to do so.
The measure, which was approved by 185 votes to 154 votes against, is intended to end a taboo on the matter, according to Spain’s left-wing government.
Only a few nations around the world, including Japan, Indonesia, and Zambia, already grant menstrual leave.
Irene Montero, the minister for equality, tweeted that “it is a historic day for feminist development.” She claims that the decision is a step towards addressing a health issue that has mainly gone unaddressed.
According to the law, employees who are having period pain are entitled to take as much time off as they require, with the state social security system—not employers—covering the cost of the sick time.
Although the period of sick leave is not set in the law, it requires a doctor’s clearance, just as paid leave for other medical reasons.
According to the Spanish Gynaecology and Obstetrics Society, a third of women experience extremely painful periods.
Once the law was initially adopted by the cabinet in May 2022, Montero declared that “periods will no longer be taboo.”
“No more hiding the reality that we are in agony that prevents us from working, no more arriving at work on time and taking medicines,”
Unions and politicians disagree
Nonetheless, the act sowed discord among unions and politicians alike.
One of Spain’s largest unions, the CCOO, hailed the action as a significant “legislative advance” in recognising a problem that had previously been “ignored.”
However, the UGT, Spain’s other major union, cautioned that it might stigmatise women in the workplace and impede their “access to the labour market” indirectly. The Popular Party, the largest right-wing opposition party, shared this view (PP).
Menstrual leave was included in a larger bill that improves access to abortion services in public hospitals, a right that faces challenges in a nation with a strong Catholic heritage.
Fewer than 15% of abortions carried out in the nation take place in public institutions, primarily due to medical professionals’ moral objections.
The new law also abolishes a condition put in place by a previous conservative administration in 2015 and permits adolescents aged 16 and 17 to obtain an abortion without parental consent.
Spain, a pioneer in women’s rights in Europe, decriminalised abortion in 1985, and it approved a law in 2010 allowing most women to choose an abortion freely within the first 14 weeks of pregnancy.
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