Menstrual leave: socialist and ecologist deputies want to break a "taboo"

Europe 1 with AFP / Photo credit: CHARLY TRIBALLEAU / AFP 17:09 pm, May 26, 2023

Green MPs on Friday proposed the introduction of menstrual leave in case of painful or incapacitating periods, two weeks after the tabling of a socialist proposal in the same spirit, each group hoping to spark the spark of a transpartisan movement to break a "taboo". After the adoption of a law in Spain, the subject emerged in France. And the left is positioning itself. In front of the press at the Assembly, the elected ecologists presented a proposal "serious and applicable" to "break the taboo on menstruation".

Co-author of this proposal with her colleagues Marie-Charlotte Garin and Sébastien Peytavie, Sandrine Rousseau is "hopeful" that it will be adopted "in a transpartisan way", even if it is not on the agenda at this stage.

A 13-day work stoppage spread over one year

Their text provides for the possibility of a work stoppage in the event of "disabling menstruation" (pain, nausea, headache, ...), recognized by a doctor or midwife. Over a period of one year, the persons concerned could file thirteen days according to their needs. The work stoppage would be fully covered by health insurance and exempted from waiting days. It could be renewed once a year, bringing the maximum duration to 26 days "for the most serious cases".

On the PS side, MPs Mickaël Bouloux and Fatiha Keloua Hachi tabled their own text in early May, and senators did the same in April. "We are ready to lift the taboo of rules," insists Mickaël Bouloux. The PS deputies also propose a work stoppage of 13 days spread over a year, and without deficiency. However, the leave would be limited to two days per month. Allies of the ecologists in the Assembly, the socialists called Friday in a statement for "a convergence of all initiatives", and the creation of a "transpartisan working group". "There are public health issues where we must go beyond parties," said Fatiha Keloua Hachi.

>> READ ALSO - Law on "menstrual leave" in Spain: in Toulouse, this company has already taken the plunge

At this stage everyone defends his version, and hopes to convince even in the presidential camp. The environmentalists have called for a meeting with the government. If the two left-wing groups could include their texts in their reserved days during the next ordinary session (at the end of 2023 or in 2024), they invite the presidential camp to support their actions. This would make it possible to examine a bill during a "transpartisan" week, with several days of debate if necessary.