Zomato's "Period" Leaves for Women and Transgenders raises the debate again, around the "taboo" concept

Indian food delivery company Zomato said on Saturday it would give female employees up to 10 days of “period leave” per year. CEO Goyal started that this is an effort to combat the stigma around the issue. “There shouldn’t be any shame or stigma attached to applying for a period leave,” Zomato chief executive Deepinder Goyal said in an email to staff on Saturday. “You should feel free to tell people on internal groups, or emails that you are on your period leave for the day,” he added.

"This is a part of life, and while we don't fully understand what women go through. We need to trust them when they say they need to rest," Goyal said. "I know that menstrual cramps are very painful for a lot of women — and we have to support them through it if we want to build a truly collaborative culture at Zomato."

The debate after Zomato's move

Zomato is the most high profile organisation to institute the policy in India. India is still a country where menstruation is still taboo to some. Millions of women and girls in India still face discrimination and health issues due to a lack of awareness surrounding menstruation.

Many women in India still don't cook, or touch things or people. They have to sleep on floors, and they do not have access to sanitary napkins either. The social shame prevents women from openly talking about menstruation. Perhaps, this move from Zomato prompted people to speak about the "taboo" topic.

Many people state that this may give rise to special treatment, or gender discrimination at work-places. But people have mostly welcomed Zomato's initiative, saying it helps to normalize women's bodies and allows them to take care of their health.

India is not only where this topic is still a stigma. Many times, in Japan and Indonesia, period leaves have stirred routine instances of public shaming and social stigma. Similar schemes have been in place in a number of Chinese provinces and other countries in Asia for years. Women in Japan have been granted menstrual leave since 1947.

Some in the country have tried to change that stigma. For example, the Bihar government allows women to take two days of leave each month because of biological reasons. However, until it is not implemented nationwide, there will still be the shame to talk about it.

Zomato took it one step forward.

Not just women, Zomato has made this applicable for transgenders too. Realising the graveness of gender disparity and the stigma around not just periods, but also sexual preferences, Zomato's move is what millennials call "woke".

Zomato's CEO Deepinder Goyal added that even for male employees shouldn't feel uncomfortable about it. He urged anyone who experienced "unnecessary harassment" or "distasteful comments" for taking period left to speak up.