16th May, 2022
Spain is proposing a new legislation that will be outlined in the next few days to allow women to take three days off work for ‘menstrual leave’, if this new proposed legislation is passed Spain could become the first Western country to allow this.
The Spanish government is expected to approve the bill as part of a broader draft bill on reproductive health and abortion rights. If the ‘menstrual leave’ is passed it could even allow for women to take off around three days but could also be extended to five days a month for women with disabling periods who suffer with severe cramps, nausea, dizziness, headaches and vomiting. The draft bill could also lower VAT on feminine products in shops and make period products available for free in schools and educational centres. The health bill could also guarantee the right to seek abortion for free in the country’s public healthcare system and scrap the requirement for 16 and 17 year olds to obtain parental/guardian consent for the procedure.
Economy Minister Nadia Calvino, a Socialist, said: “Several drafts of the plan were still under discussion.”
“Let me repeat it very clearly, this government believes in and is absolutely committed to gender equality and we will never adopt measures that could result in the stigmatisation of women.”
Menstrual leave is only offered in a small amount of countries which are:
- Japan
- Taiwan
- Indonesia
- South Korea
- Zambia
