The Indian food delivery company Zomato has said it will give female employees up to 10 days ‘period leave’ a year, as part of an effort to combat what it said was stigma surrounding the problem.
Zomato is the most high-profile organization to implement the policy in India, a country where menstruation is still taboo for some.
“There should be no shame or stigma attached to applying for a period leave,” Zomato Chief Executive Deepinder Goyal said Saturday in an email to staff.
“You need to feel free to tell people in internal groups, like emails that you are on your period for the day.”
Founded in 2008, Gurugram-based Zomato is one of India’s most renowned companies, with more than 5,000 employees.
Millions of women and girls in India are still dealing with discrimination and health problems due to a lack of awareness about menstruation.
In 2018, the Supreme Court of India passed a decades-long ban on women of menstrual age entering the Sabarimala Temple in the southern state of Kerala, leading to a nationwide debate on women’s rights.
