The Spanish Parliament has taken two major steps towards the rights of women and gender minorities. After months of sometimes heated debates, MPs finally passed legislation on Thursday allowing free gender change from the age of 16. They also finally passed legislation providing for “menstrual leave” for women with painful periods.
Warhorse of the far-left Podemos party, a Socialist ally in Pedro Sánchez’s government, this so-called “transgender” law allows people who want to change their gender on their identity papers, via a simple official declaration, once they turn 16. They have to This means that medical certificates are no longer required to certify gender dysphoria and two years of hormone treatment, as was previously the case for adults.
The text also extends this right to 14-16 year olds, provided they are accompanied by their legal representatives during the procedure, and to 12-14 year olds if they receive the green light from the judiciary. Spain thus joins the few countries in the world that authorize gender self-determination through a simple declaration, like Denmark, the first country in Europe to grant this right to transgender people in 2014,” began Minister Podemos for Gender Identity Equality Irene Montero, defending a law that “depathologizes” transgender people.
“menstrual leave”
The law providing for “menstrual leave” for women with painful periods makes Spain the first country in Europe and one of the few in the world to have included this measure in its legislation. This law recognizes “a woman’s stoppage of work in the event of incapacity for work”, which, for example, “is linked to pathologies such as endometriosis”, “as a special case of temporary incapacity for work”. “It’s about giving this pathological situation adequate regulation to eliminate any negative bias” towards women “in the world of work,” the text adds.
The law does not specify the duration of this sick leave, which must be approved by a doctor and is financed by social security. However, this “menstrual leave” met with resentment from the government’s socialist wing and was even criticized by the UGT union. This socialist union federation, one of the two largest in the country, was particularly concerned about a potential brake on hiring women from employers wanting to avoid absenteeism.
Great strides in women’s rights
This law will also allow minors to have abortions without their parents’ consent at ages 16 and 17, resorting to an obligation introduced by a Conservative government in 2015. The law, passed on Thursday, also provides for a strengthening of sex education in schools and free distribution of contraceptives or menstrual hygiene products in high schools.
Spain is a country that is seen as a benchmark for women’s rights in Europe, especially since passing a law on gender-based violence in 2004. The Sanchez government, which claims to be feminist, has more women than men.