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When menstrual pain costs you your pay: Women speak out
The world marked Menstrual Hygiene Day last Wednesday, May 28, 2025. Kenya has witnessed interesting events exposing legislators’ lacklustre attitude towards menstrual dignity.
What you need to know:
- Severe period pain forces Kenyan women to miss work, lose pay, and endure unsympathetic, inflexible employment conditions.
- Working women face financial penalties for menstruation, spotlighting a pressing need for compassionate workplace policies.
When Edna (as she prefers to be identified) completed high school in 2022, her mother found her a job as a shop attendant at a kitchen and home appliance store in Baba Dogo, Nairobi.
She was paid Sh300 daily and worked from 8am to 7pm, Monday to Saturday. But whether she earned the full weekly total of Sh1,800 or received her full monthly pay depended on one factor: her menstrual cycle. “You’re paid only if you show up to work,” she says.
However, her seven-day periods are debilitating. She is often immobile and unproductive because of severe cramps that leave her unable to walk or stand upright. “I also get a terrible lower backache. Even turning in bed is a struggle. I scream so much you’d think something sharp had pierced me,” she recounts.
When she got the job, Edna says she informed her immediate male supervisor of her menstrual-related complications, which occasionally forced her to miss work. “He told me there was nothing he could do because the owner expects me to be at work six days a week and to perform optimally,” she says. “The only thing he promised was to protect me from being fired, but I should know the owner wouldn’t pay me for any day I was absent.”
Edna says she accepted the arrangement. But for the seven months she worked at the shop, her six-day wages vanished every month because of the days she couldn’t report to work.
“I got to a point where I felt exploited. The owner wasn’t kind enough to understand that what I was going through wasn’t by choice; it was natural and I couldn’t control it. I tried painkillers and herbal remedies, but they didn’t help,” she says. “So one morning I just told my mum I wasn't going back to the shop and that was it.”
Now, Edna is a hairdresser, having learnt the trade through apprenticeship. Although the severe symptoms persist, she says she no longer feels stressed about missing work as most of her clients book in advance and are willing to reschedule.
Edna is not alone. Melissa, an early childhood development education teacher at a private school in Nairobi, also struggles during her five-day menses. “Two weeks, or sometimes a week before my period, I’m usually exhausted. My lower back aches and feels stiff,” she says. “Then, on the first night, it’s like war. The cramps are unbearable, and the flow is so heavy and clotted that no pad can manage. I just sit on the toilet or over a bucket. There’s no way I can go to work in that condition. I’m usually dizzy and mentally foggy.”
She says the heavy flow and cramps last two days before easing. She typically misses three days of work per month, and because her pay is calculated daily at Sh750, she loses that amount for every day she is absent.
“In our school, each level has its own supervisor. Ours in pre-primary is a woman. For the four years I’ve worked there, I’ve always informed her when I’m on my period, but they still deduct my pay. I just wish they would understand and grant us at least three days of menstrual leave.”
Policy gap
Dr Eliphas Gitonga, a population and reproductive health expert, agrees that it is time employers put in place menstrual leave policies for working women. “You know, our Constitution states that every person has a right to health. Menstrual time is part of reproductive health rights. Women need time to attend to their unique biological situations, rest, and return to work more productive,” he says.
He points out that paid menstrual leave is recognised in several Asian and European countries, including Japan, South Korea, and Spain, where women are granted up to three days of paid menstrual leave each month. He also emphasises that the World Health Organization recognises menstrual health as a fundamental human and gender equality right. Based on that, employers should consider menstrual leave of at least three to five days, he recommends.
Nonetheless, Dr Gitonga cautions that introducing menstrual leave might lead to stigma and discrimination at the workplace, potentially denying women an environment conducive to grow and thrive. “Employers may view menstrual leave as costly and avoid hiring or promoting women, fearing increased absenteeism.”
Case-by-case solution
Jacqueline Mugo, the executive director and chief executive officer of the Federation of Kenya Employers, echoes the concern. “To me, all these things, while well-intended, can silently increase bias against women, especially in employment,” she says. “I think menstrual leave should be handled on a case-by-case basis. If you look at it objectively, it could further jeopardise women’s chances of climbing the corporate ladder. Already, women in senior positions make up less than 30 per cent.”
She recommends that employers consider flexible arrangements such as working from home, a practice gaining traction globally. “This would empower women to choose to work from home during their period without worrying that their colleagues are aware they are menstruating.”
