When I stepped into the corporate world, I was told that corporate life is less dependent on degrees and more on ‘learning on the job’. After spending more than a decade in the corporate world, I echo the same thoughts. However, I also understood that it is not all about only ‘learning’ but also ‘bleeding on the job’.
Bleeding At The Workplace
I was once attending a corporate training, and the coach was a young lady wearing high heels and a beautiful knee length well-fitted yellow dress. She was one of the most sought after trainers with vast experience and fantastic coaching skills. During the training, she was going through a PowerPoint slide and was fully immersed in it. All of a sudden, she lost the momentum of the presentation and excused herself, and soon after learned that the training had been postponed to another day.
Most people in the room must have known the reason, as, like me, others must have also spotted a red spot on her bright yellow dress when she was leaving the room. The room was full of whispers for a few seconds. Most men in the room must have experienced disgust and women, embarrassment. This is a pervasive feeling shared by most of the working women every month.
It is disturbing to experience such feelings when roughly 26% of the global population bleeds. The actual rate is even higher as it is not only women but also trans-men and non-binary people who menstruate. Though roughly 3 out of 10 people bleed every month, still people cringe at the sight of a red spot on a saree, salwar-suit, jeans, skirt, or a dress. That day I learned that ‘learning on the job’ is not only about work-learning but also about bleed-learning.
Well, this happened in a swanky office of a multinational corporation where one can excuse oneself and have access to washrooms and sanitary napkins and can take an off and go home to save oneself from a day full of humiliating and disgusting glances. But what about the women working in the unorganized sector?
Bleeding Working Population
According to study, women make up 48.2% of India’s population. As per another report, 95% Indian working women work in unorganized sector consisting of domestic workers, handloom workers, fishermen, weavers, etc who have no access to proper toilets, sanitation or hygiene.
Bleeding On Field Duty
Due to the stigma attached to a biological process, the plight of women working in unorganized sectors or on the field like policewomen and vendors never reaches our ears. Unlike corporate employees, they don’t have to face only humiliation and embarrassment but have to manage in either unhygienic or total absence of any facilities.
One of my friends’ mom, who is now retired, served as a police officer. She narrates her personal experience of bearing the pain in her breasts due to wearing body armour over her uniform, during her periods. And despite that pain, she had to stay active in the field and perform her duties without being able to share her pain with anyone. And needless to remind here, that it’s a monthly affair.
Bleeding Is Still A Stigma
Irrespective of the sector, IT or teaching or hairdressing, one thing is common: menstruating at work is considered a sign of weakness and shame. Along with monthly bleeding and cramps, most women go through a messy and unpleasant experience at the workplace. They do not even speak about it because it’s masked with shame and anxiety.
It doesn’t matter which sector one works in. Stigma remains the same everywhere. I, myself could never tell my cis-male boss that I need a leave due to menstrual cramps. I had a different and legitimate-sounding excuse every month – guests coming over, cousin’s wedding, doctor appointment, etc. I bet my boss would have been fully aware of the real reason if he were keeping track of my leave dates. There have been so many instances where women found their colleagues/bosses tracking their menstrual cycle.
Breaking The Taboo
New-age organizations are playing a significant role in breaking ‘period stigma’. A few big organizations like Nike already have a period-leave policy in place. However, the real game-changers are the small and relatively new companies like Zomato, Culture Machine, Gozoop who have recently introduced their ‘period leave’ policies. However, a long way to go before they become the best versions as these policies still need time to get refined.
Irrespective of that, this is an extremely progressive move that would force other companies to think about it and get inspired to consider providing the same to their menstruating employees.