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India’s Supreme Court has rejected a petition to mandate menstrual leave for students and working women. A two-judge bench, led by Chief Justice Surya Kant, argued that such a law would discourage employers from hiring women and hinder their professional growth. The court stated that mandatory leave could lead to the perception that women are "not at par" with their male colleagues.
Some states and a number of large private companies have introduced menstrual leaves for employees over the years.
The top court's comments came while hearing a petition filed by lawyer Shailendra Mani Tripathi, seeking a national menstrual leave policy, legal website LiveLaw reported.
Tripathi later told news agency IANS that he had hoped that working women would receive "two-to-three days of leave" to account for menstrual difficulties.
The judges, however, said that introducing such a policy would not benefit women - instead, it would harm them by reinforcing gender stereotypes and affecting their employability. They said this could make private-sector employers hesitant to hire women and might ultimately discourage their recruitment. They added that "the government could come up with a menstrual leave policy in consultation with all stakeholders", LiveLaw reported.
The comments by the top court have once again spotlighted a topic that has long divided opinion in India and led to debates around whether it was a progressive move or encouraged stereotypes that women are weaker and unfit for the work space.
By saying that menstrual leave would make women "unattractive" as employees, the judges "reiterate the taboo around menstruation and rights that we have failed to address", public health expert and lawyer Sukriti Chauhan said.
Some argue that giving women extra leave would be discriminatory to men and in a country where periods are often a taboo subject - with women barred from temples or isolated at home as "unclean" - menstruating women may even be too shy to claim it.
But campaigners point out that many countries like Spain, Japan, South Korea and Indonesia already offer menstrual leave and that studies have shown this time off can be beneficial to women.
