Written by Matilda Howard, Marketing Specialist
Matilda Howard is a seasoned marketing professional with a passion for brand storytelling and consumer engagement. Focused on driving digital innovation and brand growth for clients she enjoys sharing her knowledge with the wider community online.
With women making up almost 47 percent of the U.S. workforce, businesses must have a thorough understanding of all aspects of women's health so that they can be aware of the issues they may face and the impact these could have on their personal and professional lives.
From polarising menstrual leave proposals right through to support through menopause workplace policy, gender inequity, and inequality are something that businesses are constantly revising and revisiting to achieve better diversity and inclusion standards for their employees.
While there are many under-researched areas of women’s health, menstrual equity is currently under the spotlight, with various organisations and charities fighting for better awareness of period inequity.
Businesses across the globe can use this movement to better educate themselves and take important steps toward creating a workspace that encourages menstrual equity.
Understanding what contributes to menstrual inequity and making positive changes in the workplace is pivotal when creating and maintaining an inclusive workplace. There are some key steps that businesses can make in their office spaces, company policies and employee education and attitudes that can help create a safe and understanding environment for women and people who menstruate.
What is menstrual equity?
Menstrual, or period equity centres fundamentally on everyone having access to menstrual products, education and reproductive care that is affordable. This also includes ensuring that people have safe environments to menstruate.
The aim is to remove the stigma of menstruation by focusing on education for everyone, not just for those who will experience menstruation. By educating more widely on the topic of menstruation and all reproductive issues, there will hopefully be less taboo when discussing menstrual matters.
Impact of menstrual inequity
Unfortunately, menstrual inequality is a problem faced by many women of all ages, including in the workplace. The impacts of menstrual inequity can be mental, physical and financial. Businesses can better support their employees by having a more thorough understanding of menstrual issues and a holistic approach to reproductive care available.
Millions of people in the US struggle to access affordable period care products, also referred to as period poverty. Without access to necessary menstrual products, women may face disruptions to their usual routine while on their period.
Being unable to manage their menstruation hygienically can not only impact people's mental and physical health, but it may also lead to people being forced to stay at home and miss school, college or work.
Similarly, around 84% of women experience period pain at some stage in their lifetime. While this can manifest in some people as mild, manageable discomfort, for others, it can be debilitating. Again, this can have a detrimental impact on mental health.
From a work perspective, period pain could also lead to absences and reliance on personal days, which can cause tensions or, in extreme circumstances, cases of discrimination in the workplace.
How can businesses work towards menstrual equity?
There are many ways that businesses can help to create a more inclusive environment for people who menstruate both on a practical level and from an educational standpoint.
Providing period products
Ensuring that all bathrooms are stocked with a range of free period products, such as tampons and sanitary towels, will give people who are menstruating access to change their menstrual products regularly. However, it is equally important to provide hygienic ways to dispose of these products, too, and ensure that these are regularly emptied.
Maintaining a clean bathroom environment may help to encourage period hygiene and provide a safe environment where people feel comfortable and confident in their ability to manage their menstruation at work.
Encouraging employees to take regular breaks
Toxic work cultures can lead to employees feeling they are unable to take any breaks, including bathroom breaks, whether from fear of judgment or being deemed as not working hard enough or because employees are simply overloaded with work and find it hard to find time for breaks.
All employees need to take regular bathroom breaks, even more so for people who are menstruating so they can change their period products when needed to avoid leaking or cases of TSS (Toxic Shock Syndrome).
Education and encouraging open conversations
Educating the entire organisation on menstrual and menopausal issues can help to highlight the potential impacts on employees. Speaking with employees who menstruate to understand their struggles can help inform the education needed. Opening up conversations around menstrual equity can break down any stigmas that exist in the workplace.
Businesses could consider specific training for senior leadership and managers to help them navigate the potential impacts of menstruation and encourage more open conversations surrounding all reproduction issues between colleagues and managers.
Consider implementing menstrual or menopause workplace policies
Menstrual leave and menopause workplace policies are much debated and often divisive. While there currently are no legal requirements to offer menstrual leave or support for menopausal people, opening up conversations about new policies for these issues can help to set them apart from existing sick leave and set perimeters for what additional requirements are needed to allow women to feel more comfortable in the workplace.
Alternatively, businesses could consider embracing flexible working policies instead. Flexible working can mean equipping employees with the resources to work remotely, meaning that women can work from home rather than having to take sick leave if they are suffering from period-related pain.
Similarly, flexible working could also relate to how people manage their own time and remove mandatory core work hours. This would allow employees to take time to rest throughout the workday if needed and make up the time later in the week or month when they are feeling better.
Flexible working can be beneficial for all employees, not just for those who menstruate, and is a positive policy for overall diversity and inclusion.
Benefits of menstrual equity and inclusivity for businesses
Unsurprisingly, creating an inclusive environment for women in the workplace will have a huge positive impact on the overall health and happiness of a business and all of its employees. An inclusive environment for all will mean employees will feel more supported and, in turn, be able to perform at their best.
Evidently, period inequity can lead to attendance issues. Therefore, creating menstrual equity may lead to a reduction in absences. However, productivity isn’t the only way that period equity can impact a company.
Ensuring all employees have access to the best washroom experience is an overall benefit to all in the company and will feed into the overall office atmosphere, potentially even helping to encourage employees to attend the office more regularly.
Becoming a period-positive workplace can contribute to the destigmatization of menstruation and the discrimination faced by many women for period-related issues.
By being a pioneer in period equity and demonstrating best practices, companies can position themselves as leaders in diversion, quality, and inclusion, which, in turn, can help attract and retain the best talent.
Final thoughts
While it may seem that menstrual equity will only impact those who menstruate, it is the perfect way to demonstrate a business's real commitment to gender equity and wider diversity, equity, and inclusion aims.
In creating an inclusive workplace and encouraging open conversations about all aspects of health, from mental to menstrual, and taking the time to understand issues faced by all employees, companies can help shape changes to their policies and business practices that improve the working conditions, and overall feelings of satisfaction, for their team.
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Read more from Matilda Howard
Matilda Howard, Marketing Specialist
Matilda Howard is a recognized leader in marketing, a seasoned professional who is passionate about driving digital innovation and growth for global brands. Matilda leads initiatives across a range of digital marketing disciplines, content creation, and brand management. She's passionate about blending creativity with data-driven insights to achieve impactful results for clients.
