Spain Becomes First European Country to Introduce Paid Menstrual Leave | Great!

💭 ስፔን ሴቶ ዜጎቿ የሚከፈልበት የወር አበባ ፈቃድን ያገኙ ዘንድ በሕግ ያጸደቀች የመጀመሪያዋ የአውሮፓ ሀገር ሆነች

ይህ በእውነት በጣም ጥሩ ነገር ነው። በመላው ዓለም በሥራ ላይ መዋል ያለበት ሕግ ነው። እስካሁንም አልመተግበሩ የሚያስገርም ነው። ከእርግዝና እስከ ወር አበባ የሴቶች ሸክማቸው በጣም ብዙ ነው፤ ይሳዝኑኛል።

በተረፈ፤ “የወር አበባ” የሚለውን ቃል እንዲህ በጣም ቆንጆ በሆነ መልክ የሚጠቀም የዓለማችን ብቸኛ ቋንቋ ኢትዮጵያኛችን ነው። የብዙ ሃገራት ዜጎችን በተለይ ለሴቶች ስለዚህ ቃል ስነግራቸው በመገረምና ደስ በመሰኘት ነው ምላሹን የሚሰጡት። በእነዚህ ሁለት ቃላት የእኅቶቻችንን ወርሃዊ ሥነ ሥርዓት የሰየሙት አባቶች ወይንም እናቶች ፥ “ወታደሮቻችንን በሳንጃ፣ ሴቶቻቸው ግን በወንድ ነው የተደፈሩት!” እያለ ከሚሳለቀው ከዚህ የኢትዮጵያ ማሕፀን ካልወደችው መጤ አውሬ የሰማይና መሬት ያህል ልዩነት እንዳላቸው ይጠቁመናል። የቀደሙት አባቶችና እናቶች እጅግ በጣም የተሻሉ ናቸውና፤ ምስጋና ይገባቸዋል።

💭 A vote on the new law, which introduces up to five days of menstrual leave for women who have incapacitating periods, passed through the Spanish parliament earlier today.

According to the Spanish Gynaecological and Obstetric Society, a third of women experience dysmenorrhea or painful menstruation. Accompanying measures include the free provision of free sanitary products in schools, prisons and women’s centres to tackle “period poverty”.

The law gives workers the right to a three-day “menstrual” leave of absence, which can be extended it to five days. The leave will also require a doctor’s note.

💭 Spain now joins a short list of countries that offer sick leave, some paid, during menstrual cycles. Here’s a look at other laws around the world.

THE VIEW FROM ZAMBIA

Zambian women are entitled to one day off per month to deal with the side effects of their menstrual cycles. The day, colloquially referred to as “Mother’s Day,” can be taken by all women regardless of their marital status or if they have children.

THE VIEW FROM CHINA

Four Chinese provinces offer paid menstrual leave to working women. Shanxi, Ningxia, Hubei, and Anhui provinces all provide some form of leave. In Ningxia, a 2016 law offered two days per month of period leave, and employers are required to provide it or face penalties.

In Anhui, up to two days are available with a doctor’s note.

THE VIEW FROM SOUTH KOREA

One day of menstrual leave is available to South Korean women, but some women don’t know it is available, and many avoid using their entitlement at all for fear of a backlash in male-dominated workspaces.

Speaking to The Korea Times, 28-year-old Yoon Jin Sung described feeling guilty if she used her time off because her colleagues would need to take over her work. She thinks better public awareness about period pain is needed for women to feel like they can take the day off. “It’s not a privilege at all,” she said. “We need an environment where we can use the leave when we need to.”

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