NEW DELHI: Taking cognisance of a recent incident of three women sanitation workers of Maharshi Dayanand University in Haryana being compelled to send photographs of their sanitary pads to prove they were menstruating, Supreme Court on Friday decided to examine framing of guidelines to ensure that the right to health, dignity, bodily autonomy and privacy of women and girls is not violated when they are going through menstruation.A bench of Justices B V Nagarathna and R Mahadevan expressed concern over ‘period-shaming’ incidents in educational institutions and working places, and said it showed the mentality of people.SC issued notice to the Centre and its ministries concerned on a petition filed by Supreme Court Bar Association which told the court there had been many instances of ‘period-shaming’ and pleaded the court to intervene.SCBA president Vikas Singh and other office bearers including Aparna Bhat and Pragya Baghel, told the court there was an urgent need for guidelines enforceable across India with an aim of fostering dignity and workplace inclusivity and upholding women’s right to health. They submitted that the Haryana incident was not a solitary one and many such cases have been reported across the country.”These incidents of women and girls being subjected to invasive and degrading checks in various institutional settings to check whether they are menstruating is in gross violation of their right to life, dignity, privacy and bodily integrity under Article 21 of the Constitution. Women workers, especially unorganised workers, have a right to decent working conditions which respect their biological differences and make room for adequate concessions such that they are not subject to humiliating checks when they are suffering from menstruation-related pain and discomfort,” SCBA said in its petition. SC after a brief hearing sought response from the Centre and appreciated SCBA for taking up this issue. It also said that if a woman worker on account of menstruation was unable to perform heavy tasks, another employee could have been assigned. “If someone is saying that because of this reason heavy work could not be done, it could have been accepted and some other persons could have deployed. We hope something good will happen with this petition,” the bench said.Haryana govt told the court an inquiry had been initiated and said action had been taken against two persons who were responsible for the incident.
