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The plea while seeking leave for the women during their menstrual period relied on the research conducted by the University College London which revealed that the amount of pain a female goes through while menstruating is equivalent to the pain a person experiences during a heart attack.
A Public Interest Litigation plea in the Supreme Court has sought direction for allowing monthly leave for female students and working women at their respective workplaces during their menstrual period.
The petition has been filed by an Advocate, Shailendra Mani Tripathi alleging that despite making all the provisions in the law to take care of women in difficult stages of their maternity, the very first stage of the maternity, the menstrual period has been knowingly or unknowingly ignored by the society.
The plea submits, "Only women are empowered to propagate the human race on earth with their special ability of creation of human life, which we commonly call maternity. During different parts or stages of maternity, women undergo a number of physical and mental hardships, be it undergoing menstrual period, pregnancy, miscarriage or any medical complications related to these stages of maternity."
Given the above, the plea states that in these stages menstrual period is the genus, and pregnancy, miscarriage, etc. are the species, which definitely need the first attention of society and the legislature.
The petition argues that Bihar is the only state in India which has been providing two days of special menstrual pain leave to women since 1992 through its Human Resources. "In 1912, the Government Girls School in Tripunithura, located in the erstwhile princely state of Cochin (present Ernakulam district), had allowed students to take 'period leave' during the time of their annual examination and permitted them to write it later," the plea reads.
Additionally, the Indian food delivery service Zomato’s decision to give female employees up to 10 days of period leave per year triggered a massive discussion about menstrual health and gender equality, the plea adds.
The plea also relie on the estimates released by the Endometriosis Society India suggesting that over 25 million women suffer from endometriosis, a condition that makes period pain so bad that women may pass out from it.
In view of the above, the plea has sought direction for all the states to frame rules for menstrual pain leaves for female students and working-class women at their respective workplaces.
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