Committee calls out ministry for saying menstrual leave will give economic implication

SHAH ALAM – A committee calls out the Women, Family and Community Development Ministry for associating menstrual pain with economic implications.

The IndustriALL Malaysian Women co-chairmen Idawati Idrus and Selvi Pallaniady today expressed their disappointment through a statement today following deputy minister Datuk Siti Zailah Mohd Yusoff’s statement in the parliament which claimed the ministry was worried that menstrual leave would affect the economy in the country.

“As for the female workers in the manufacturing company, they could apply for a medical certificate during their menstrual cycle but it could lead to an implication on their working merit.

“Employees’ panel doctors could refuse to give medical leave when it was associated with menstruation.

“Moreover, employees also could reduce their salary or refuse to give bonuses if they applied for too many sick leaves.

“That’s why female workers would only bear with the pain and didn’t apply for sick leave,” they said.

The committee co-chairmen added if reproductive rights were not protected, it would definitely affect women’s health and contribute to family conflict at any time.

The menstrual leave issue was first highlighted by Klang MP, Charles Santiago, yesterday.

Apart from that, the committee also touched on the subsidisation of the menstrual pad to abolish period poverty.

“We hope the ministry prevents ‘fire-fighting’ when hot issues arise.

“As the policy maker, the women’s ministry needs to find the root issue on why women can’t afford menstrual pads.

“The main issue now is their salary is too low. Even though the Prime Minister’s announced minimum salary raised to RM1,500 was a good measure, it is still far from the individual living wage of RM2,700 suggested by the Bank Negara Malaysia,” they said.

They suggested the government should survey the period of poverty in a holistic manner and the first step was to imply a menstrual leave as a woman’s right.

The call for the government to enact a law allowing special leave for women suffering from severe menstrual cramps came about after the leave was recently implemented by Spain.