Saint-Ouen is the first city in France to introduce a menstrual holiday.

“I am in terrible pain. These are very strong contractions that come day and night. Sometimes I can’t walk. These pains Habissetou Sylla, agent of the city of Saint-Ouen (Saint-Saint-Denis) since 2009, feels them every month during menstruation.

Faced with the situation that many women find themselves in, Saint-Ouen City Hall announced on March 8, on the occasion of International Women’s Rights Day, the establishment of menstrual leave for its employees. The system will come into effect on March 27.

“This is a very good initiative,” says Habissetu Silla. I am proud that Saint-Ouen is the first city in France! If employers begin to take into account women’s pain, then the local authorities are indeed the first in the country to offer measures aimed at alleviating the condition of their employees who have suffered from endometriosis or disabling menstruation.

“As long as I was in pain, I came, but did not work”

“It was while talking to city officials that I realized that many are suffering in silence,” explains Saint-Ouen Mayor Karim Bouamran (PS), who follows his party with the device.

Once this is implemented, the affected women will go to a doctor who will confirm their disease. A medical certificate will allow them to take advantage of facilities such as special permission for a two-day absence, teleworking, organization of working hours and workplace. Without deducting from them the day of waiting.

“As long as I was in pain, I came, but I didn’t work,” Silla tells Habisset. Painkillers don’t work. But I can’t afford to be absent and lose 70 euros (working day equivalent). A 31-year-old Audonian agent was diagnosed with adenomyosis a few months ago while looking for her second child.

In France, at least one in ten women suffer from endometriosis.

This variant of endometriosis affects the lining of the uterus. Endometriosis is characterized by the presence of endometrial tissue outside the uterus. This chronic inflammatory disease causes severe pain and can lead to infertility. According to the National Institute of Health and Medical Research (Inserm), today every tenth woman in France suffers from it.

But this figure will be underestimated. “These are women with a diagnosis,” says Yasmine Cando, president of Endofrance, a French endometriosis association founded in 2001. The average is seven years of medical wandering. »

“Out of the 2,000 agents of Saint-Ouen City Hall, more than 1,200 are women,” notes Karim Bouamran. This measure may affect 500 of them. Representatives of the headquarters welcome the initiative, they learned on the day of the announcement. “We can only positively welcome this,” said Remy Church, CGT union representative at City Hall.

The city of Paris may follow

However, Yasmin Kandau notes a nuance: “This is a good measure in the sense that the rules are no longer a taboo topic. But, in the case of endometriosis, women should not be content with vacation during pain, but strive to understand the cause. Because it can be a sign of serious pathologies. The President of Endofrance insists on the importance of the information campaign and long-term health care in addition to menstrual leave.

The mayor of St. Ouen admits that this device does not solve the problem associated with endometriosis. “But before this disease was not recognized at all,” he emphasizes. This is the first step. “The first member of the city council also wrote to Emmanuel Macron to extend this measure to the entire country. “This should be an obligation for all municipalities,” he pleads.

This device has already been adopted in Japan, Taiwan and Indonesia. A pioneer in Europe, Spain joined the list by passing a law on February 16 that provides for menstrual leave for all women. Will Saint-Ouen start traffic in France? In Paris, a group of ecologists at the Council of Paris submitted a wish in this regard.