Newsnight and Radio 5 Live presenter Emma Barnett, 34, claims men would be given time off work if they had periods as she opens up on ‘taboo’
- Emma Barnett, 34, said women don’t often speak about periods as it’s ‘taboo’
- Journalist, who sufferers from endometriosis, wasn’t listened to about own pain
- Said she didn’t support ‘period leave’ but if men had them it would be the norm
Journalist Emma Barnett, pictured, has said that if men had periods ‘menstrual leave would be baked into HR policies’
Newsnight presenter Emma Barnett has said that if men had periods ‘menstrual leave would be baked into HR policies.’
The journalist, 34, who also works on BBC Radio 5 Live, said there is a taboo around speaking about periods and women don’t often feel able to talk about their cycle, reports the Sunday Times.
Emma suffers from endometriosis and revealed that she often goes on air with a hot water bottle because of the pain the condition can cause.
Although admitting that she doesn’t support menstrual leave as a policy, Emma said it would be common place if men had periods.
She explained how she also understands feminists might not agree with ‘period leave’ as women don’t want to be ‘seen as less.’
She said: ‘That’s why I don’t support menstrual leave. Although, if men had periods, menstrual leave would be baked into HR policies, for sure.
‘My point is that if women just felt more able to talk about it, accommodations could be made to help them do their job.’
Emma said she wasn’t listened too seriously for years over her endometriosis pain and this can make women not want to speak about their periods.
Emma, pictured in 2015, suffers from endometriosis herself and revealed she often goes on air with a hot water bottle because of the pain the condition can cause
Endometriosis is an often painful disorder in which tissue similar to the lining of the uterus — the endometrium — grows outside the uterus.
She said that many women would ‘rather say they’ve got diarrhoea than they’re bleeding’ because they’d been ‘fobbed off’ in the past.
In 2016 Bristol based company Coexist became the first in the UK to offer period leave to women.
Bex Baxter, then 40, said she had seen many women over the years ‘who are bent over double because of the pain caused by their periods’ but stay at their desks.
She said: ‘They feel they cannot go home because they do not class themselves as unwell. And this is unfair.
‘We wanted a policy in place which recognises and allows women to take time for their body’s natural cycle without putting this under the label of illness.’
However after implementing the policy Bex received a backlash from women around the UK, with some saying she had put feminism back 100 years.
‘Period policies’ are no new thing. Menstrual leave began in Japan in 1947 and other countries including South Korea, Taiwan and Indonesia also have laws in place allowing women to take time off work when they are on their period.
Emma Barnett has written a book about periods where she ‘tries to question what is driving people’s squeamishness around the topic,’ reports the Bookseller.
What is endometriosis? How the disorder results in pelvic pain and internal scarring
Endometriosis is an often painful disorder in which tissue similar to the lining of the uterus — the endometrium — grows outside the uterus.
It most commonly affects the ovaries, Fallopian tubes and the tissue lining the pelvis.
The primary symptom of endometriosis is pelvic pain although many women also experience cramping during their menstrual cycle.
Symptoms also include painful periods, pain with intercourse, pain with bowel movements or urination, inflammation, excessive bleeding and infertility.
Often misdiagnosed, many women only discover they have the condition during infertility treatment.
Approximately half of women diagnosed with endometriosis have difficulty getting pregnant.
While studies about the link between endometriosis and miscarriages are still ongoing, newer research suggests that the condition can leave sufferers at greater risk of having a miscarriage.
Source: Mayo Clinic
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