The Spanish parliament has taken two big steps in the rights of women and gender minorities. After months of sometimes heated debate, the deputies definitively adopted on Thursday a law allowing free change of gender from the age of 16. They have also definitively passed a law creating a “menstrual leave” for women suffering from painful periods.
Battle horse of the radical left party Podemos, an ally of the socialists in the government of Pedro Sánchez, this so-called “transgender” law allows people who wish to change their gender on their identity papers via a simple administrative declaration as soon as the age of 16. It will therefore no longer be necessary to provide medical reports attesting to gender dysphoria and proof of hormonal treatment followed for two years, as was the case until now for adults.
The text also extends this right to 14-16 year olds, provided that they are accompanied in the procedure by their legal guardians, as well as to 12-14 year olds, if they obtain the green light from justice. Spain thus joins the few countries in the world authorizing gender self-determination via a simple declaration, like Denmark, the first country to have granted this right in Europe to transgender people in 2014. takes a giant step” in recognizing the “free determination of gender identity”, launched the Minister Podemos for Equality Irene Montero, defending a law which “depathologizes” transgender people.
“Menstrual leave”
The law creating “menstrual leave” for women suffering from painful menstruation makes Spain the first country in Europe and one of the few in the world to incorporate this measure into its legislation. With this law, “a woman’s work stoppage in the event of incapacitating periods” linked, for example, “to pathologies such as endometriosis” will be “recognized as a special situation of temporary incapacity” for work. “It is a question of granting this pathological situation an appropriate regulation in order to eliminate any negative bias” for women “in the world of work”, adds the text.
No details are given in the law on the duration of this sick leave, which must be granted by a doctor and will be financed by Social Security. This “menstrual leave”, however, aroused reluctance within the socialist wing of the government and was even criticized by the UGT union. This socialist trade union center, one of the two largest in the country, was particularly concerned about a possible brake on the hiring of women by employers wanting to avoid these absences.
Major advances in women’s rights
This law will also allow minors to abort without the authorization of their parents at the age of 16 and 17 by going back on an obligation introduced in 2015 by a Conservative government. The law adopted Thursday also provides for a strengthening of sex education in schools, as well as the free distribution of contraceptives or menstrual hygiene products in high schools.
Spain is a country considered as a benchmark in terms of women’s rights in Europe, particularly since the adoption in 2004 of a law on gender violence. Claiming to be feminist, the Sanchez government has more women than men.