It’s Time to Expand Worker Protection: Labour Rights Must Include Menstrual Health By Dr Jennifer Heaven Mike

As the world pauses to celebrate Labour Day, most of the global discourse gravitates, as it should, towards wages, working conditions, and employment rights. But while we honour the fight for fair pay and job security, we must also interrogate what is still missing in our vision of worker protection. One glaring omission is menstrual health and dignity, a fundamental human issue that continues to be shrouded in silence, stigma, and institutional neglect.

The Taboo We Must Break

Menstruation remains one of the most natural processes of the human body, yet it is still treated as an uncomfortable, “private” matter, unfit for workplace policies or public discourse. Women, girls, and menstruating people are often expected to manage their periods discreetly, even when grappling with extreme pain, fatigue, or lack of access to hygienic products.

This silence is not just inconvenient, it is unjust. It denies millions of workers the dignity and support they need to function fully and comfortably at work. It is time we acknowledged menstrual health not as a niche issue, but as a legitimate labour rights concern.

Menstrual Health Matters in the Workplace

Menstruation is not a weakness. It is a biological function essential to human life. Yet in workplaces around the world, especially in the Global South, menstruation is rarely factored into occupational health and safety plans, workplace infrastructure, or employee benefits. Many suffer in silence, taking unpaid leave, avoiding shifts, or pushing through pain, because their environments lack the policies, empathy, or tools to support them.

Menstrual equity is not a luxury. It is a core part of gender equity, health justice, and inclusive economic development.

What Needs to Be Done: Concrete Proposals

To create truly safe and equitable workplaces, menstrual health must be incorporated into labour laws, employment policies, and workplace cultures. Here’s how we begin:

Policy Reform in Workplaces

1. Provide free menstrual hygiene products in all public and private workplaces, just as soap, water, and tissue paper are provided.
2. Introduce menstrual leave policies for individuals experiencing severe symptoms or managing reproductive health conditions like endometriosis. These provisions should be protected and normalised, not stigmatised.
3. Ensure access to private, clean, and hygienic rest spaces in workplaces for managing menstrual discomfort or personal care.

Legal and Institutional Backing

1. Enact labour laws that recognise and uphold menstrual health rights as part of occupational health frameworks.
2. Establish penalties and accountability mechanisms for workplaces that ignore or discriminate against menstruating employees.
3. Extend these protections to both the formal and informal sectors, where millions of women work without contracts or protections.

State-Level Investment and Sustainable Access

1. Allocate public funding for the free distribution of menstrual products, particularly in schools, public institutions, rural areas, and low-income communities.
2. Support the development and distribution of sustainable, reusable menstrual products that are environmentally friendly and cost-effective.
3. Launch education campaigns to normalie discussions of menstruation rights/ matters, reduce shame, and encourage inclusive practices across sectors.

Economic Justice and Tax Reform

Eliminate taxes on menstrual products and medications. These items are not optional, they are essential health supplies.

Recognize that the high cost of menstrual care disproportionately impacts women living in poverty. Addressing this is not only a health issue, but a matter of economic and gender justice.

Critics may point to the cost of these reforms. But the reality is that the social return on investment is high. Supporting menstrual health enhances productivity, promotes gender equality, improves mental health, and fosters inclusive economic growth. Workers perform better when they are physically comfortable.

Morale and employee retention improve when people feel valued. Societies thrive when gender-specific needs are respected, not ignored.

When a woman knows her employer or government has made provisions for her menstrual health, it sends a powerful message: your health matters, your dignity matters, your contribution is valued. That alone is transformative.

Let’s Widen the Lens

Labour rights is not just about wages or contracts, it is about the full dignity of work, the safety nets in the workplace. That includes the biological realities and gender-specific needs of half the world’s population.

Let’s be bold enough to say: Menstruation is natural. Supporting it is essential. Menstrual equity is labour equity.

Policymakers, employers, unions, civil society, and everyday citizens should elevate menstrual health as a priority in the global movement for workers’ rights.

The time to act is now!

Dr Jennifer H. Mike is a Global Studies Scholar and can be reached at jennifermike@depauw.edu;jennifer2heaven@aun.edu.ng