Spanish Minister for Equality Irene Montero celebrates Spanish legislation granting paid menstrual leave

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Mar 4, 2023 - 13:24 Updated: Mar 8, 2023 - 14:22

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Spanish Minister for Equality Irene Montero celebrates Spanish legislation granting paid menstrual leave

(22.02.2023)

(Anouk Nolet)

Women’s Rights Researcher,

Global Human Rights Defence.

On the 16th of February 2023, the Spanish parliament approved a new bill that enshrines paid menstrual leave as a human right for employees. This comes in the wake of new legislation that also expands abortion and transgender rights for teenagers in the country, transforming previously conservative Catholic legislation into one of the most progressive on the continent. Spain has become the first country in Europe to allow those with especially painful periods to take paid ‘menstrual leave.’ The law was initially approved by the cabinet in May 2022.

Globally, menstrual leave remains a controversial matter. The only other countries that extend this right or have similar legislation are Japan, South Korea, Indonesia and Zambia. Spain is the first European country to join the list.

The Spanish law allows those with particularly painful periods to take a three-day menstrual leave of absence, with the possibility of extending it to five days a month. The bill still requires a doctor’s note, as for other illnesses, and the government will pay for the menstrual leave provision. Severe period pain, or dysmenorrhea, is very common: over half of those menstruating experience pain for two or more days a month. In some cases, the pain can be so severe that it incapacitates an individual in doing daily activities. It is sometimes also accompanbied by nausea, dizziness, or even vomiting. Despite this, complaints of women or those menstruating are oftentimes not taken seriously. In general, menstruation is still largely stigmatised and misunderstood.

The main driving force behind the bill was Equality Minister Irena Montero of the left-wing coalition party Podemos. Of course, the bill was also met with sceptism. The conservative popular party Vox voted against the measure, stating that it would risk further marginalising women. Others expressed concerns over the position of women in the labor market if companies are less inclined to hire women knowing they might take increased sick leave.

Yet Montero and those supporting the legislation believe the bill is a step in the right direction for feminist values to be enshrined in the law, without which women are not considered equal employees or citizens as opposed to men. The law itself states that it will help combat stereotypes and myths that surround periods. It will also allow the country to address menstruation as a health problem that has largely been neglected up until now.

Spain is a European leader with regards to women’s rights, decriminalising abortion in 1985 and now further relaxing its transgender and abortion laws. This law also includes the free provision of menstrual products in schools and prisons, and free hormonal contraceptives and the morning after pill at state-run health centers. It is a monumental step in the right direction for sexual and reproductive rights.

Sources and further reading:

Bello, C. & Llach, L. (February 16, 2023). Painful periods? Spain just passed Europe’s first

paid ‘menstrual leave’ law. Euronews. Retrieved February 22, 2023, from

https://www.euronews.com/next/2023/02/16/spain-set-to-become-the-first-european-c

ountry-to-introduce-a-3-day-menstrual-leave-for-women

Camut, N. (February 16, 2023). Spain approves paid menstrual leve, first country in Europe

to do so. PoliticoPro. Retrieved February 22, 2023, from

https://www.politico.eu/article/bill-europe-spain-parliament-creates-first-menstrual-le

ave-in-europe/

Derbali, N. (February 16, 2023). Spanje verankert menstruatieverlof voor vrouwen als recht

in wet. NRC. Retreived February 22, 2023, from

https://www.nrc.nl/nieuws/2023/02/16/spanje-verankert-menstruatieverlof-voor-vrou