Pain, loss of concentration, dizziness - for many women, these are not excuses, but the reality of every month. This was pointed out by independent MP Jevrosima Pejović, who submitted the Bill on Menstrual Leave to the parliamentary procedure in early March.
"Women who suffer from secondary dysmenorrhea would have the right to leave, which means that the pain is accompanied by some organic cause. This would of course also allow for better control over who is entitled to this leave, and women would have the right to two days of leave if they obtained a doctor's certificate once a year. And in this way, we would actually restore dignity to women," she said.
Unlike sick leave, menstrual leave would be paid at full salary. It applies to women with painful menstruation caused by gynecological diseases such as cysts, fibroids or endometriosis.
"Around 60 percent of women experience problems with dysmenorrhea or painful menstruation at some point in their lives. However, around 15 percent of those who actually have severe problems that can prevent them from functioning in their daily lives, both in their free time and at work. So these women can certainly be less productive at work than when they are not menstruating," explained gynecologist Željka Ralević.
Ralević says that understanding from the employer should be a normal thing, but warns that the law could also open up space for abuse.
"We still have to see what kind of control mechanisms there are that could sort all this out somewhere and how, for example, a gynecologist could provide some confirmation that a woman really cannot be productive during dysmenorrhea," she adds.
Pejović points out that going to a gynecologist for confirmation could have a much broader effect, as women would go for checkups more often.
"We live in a country that is at the very top of European black statistics, because for years over 60 percent of women discover that they have cervical cancer at a time when they can undergo surgery. The screening program covers less than 50 percent of women, and if the right to menstrual leave motivates even one woman to go to a gynecologist and discover that she has a health problem and thus save her life, I will truly believe that I have succeeded as a politician and as a woman," said the MP.
The Parliament of Montenegro told Television Vijesti that the proposal has been sent to the relevant committees, and that MPs will consider it after it is included in the agenda, which, Pejović expects, will happen during the regular autumn session.
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