Women will be given paid menstrual leave days under a law that has been submitted by a Moroccan parliamentary group.
If passed into law, the nation would be the second in Africa—behind Zambia—to allow women to take time off for menstruation.
The social justice group’s plan, which would be a first for the Middle East and North Africa, aims to improve the situation of women in the workplace.
Female employees won’t have to present medical documentation each time they need to miss work.
The Social Justice Group Coordinator, Mustapha Dahmani, told the BBC that the Moroccan government still needs to discuss and pass the measure later this month.
If the bill is passed into law, it will be implemented gradually, beginning with government workers to gauge how useful and practical it would be.
While some women believe there are much more urgent issues the government should address, others disagree.
“The proposal is not an emergency law. We have women who suffer and who give birth in difficult conditions in the absence of hospitals in remote regions of the country. I think that the parliamentary groups must focus on these difficult conditions of rural women and especially health matters.” Aicha Salmi, a member of a women’s association, told the BBC.
South Korea, Japan, Taiwan, and Indonesia are more nations that grant paid menstruation leave.
A bill that provides paid medical leave for women who have severe period pain was authorized by the Spanish cabinet in May, but the proposed legislation still needs to be passed by parliament.
