{"id":21601,"date":"2023-06-01T09:13:16","date_gmt":"2023-06-01T07:13:16","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.intimina.com\/blog\/?p=21601"},"modified":"2023-06-01T09:15:20","modified_gmt":"2023-06-01T07:15:20","slug":"common-excuses-for-period-pains","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.intimina.com\/blog\/common-excuses-for-period-pains\/","title":{"rendered":"The Most Common Excuses for Period Pains, According to a New Study"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">From dodgy prawns, sick pets, gym accidents and faulty plumbing to mystery viruses, new research<\/span><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">\u00a0reveals the common excuses that one in four (24%) working women feel the need to use to explain their absence from work due to period pain.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">But that\u2019s no longer the case in Spain, which has just become the first country in the western world to allow women to call in sick due to \u2018incapacitating menstruation\u2019. To highlight the ongoing stigma around time off for menstruation,\u00a0 <\/span><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">INTIMINA<\/span><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> has launched <em>Useless Spanish Lessons<\/em>, featuring the now redundant excuses that working people in Spain don\u2019t need to use to get time off from work due to period pain.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Including six of the most common phrases used by people when calling in sick due to menstrual pain and discomfort, such as \u201c<\/span><i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">I have a mystery virus<\/span><\/i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">\u201d (28%) and \u201c<\/span><i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">I have food poisoning due to a dodgy prawn<\/span><\/i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">\u201d (20%), the parody video teaches viewers how to say these phrases in Spanish \u2013 even though they would never need to. Watch the <i>Useless Spanish Lessons\u00a0<\/i>below:<\/span><\/p>\n<p><iframe loading=\"lazy\" title=\"Useless Spanish Lessons\" width=\"500\" height=\"281\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/ZApZp9KGBSk?feature=oembed\" frameborder=\"0\" allow=\"accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share\" allowfullscreen><\/iframe><\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">The campaign, which launches ahead of Menstrual Hygiene Day (28th May), parodies the style of an online Spanish language tutorial, and aims to help break the taboo and stigma felt by women around the world discussing period discomfort in the workplace. As of February 2023, Spain has become only the fourth country to offer paid period leave, along with Japan, South Korea and Zambia<\/span><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">2<\/span><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">According to INTIMINA\u2019s research of British working women, almost two thirds (63%) would support paid period leave in the UK and half (49%) of those surveyed would have felt the need to use it.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Just one in ten (10%) said their employers have been open to giving them time-off due to extreme period symptoms, with half (49%) saying they have experienced a lack of sympathy discussing menstrual pain with their employers or managers.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Consequently, many people experiencing pain feel obliged to continue working and suffering in silence, with one in five (20%) reporting that it has had an impact on their mental health and wellbeing.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">To help campaign further for universal paid menstrual leave and a world where no one is held back by menstruation, INTIMINA has partnered with advocacy and education group <\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/www.wash-united.org\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">WASH United<\/span><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> this Menstrual Hygiene Day.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><b>Dunja Kokotovic, Intimina Global Brand Manager<\/b> <b>at INTIMINA comments:<\/b> <i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">\u201cIt\u2019s sad that in 2023, so many women in Britain and all over the world feel forced to contrive reasons why they\u2019re not well enough to work when suffering from menstrual pain. From food poisoning and exercise injuries to sick pets and relatives and domestic disasters, these essential excuses are now useless in Spain and that\u2019s something to celebrate.\u00a0<\/span><\/i><\/p>\n<p><i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">This Menstrual Hygiene Day, we hope that \u2018 Useless Spanish Lessons\u2019 helps raise awareness of the need for open and honest discussions about menstruation in the workplace and brings us closer to a world where paid menstrual leave is guaranteed.\u201d<\/span><\/i><\/p>\n<p><b>Gynaecology Specialist for INTIMINA, Dr Susanna Unsworth, adds:<\/b> <i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">\u201cMenstruation affects everybody differently and for some their period can come with severe physical and mental symptoms. Not being able to take time off due to discomfort or having to lie to an employer can create stress and anxiety which can cause health to deteriorate even further.<\/span><\/i><\/p>\n<p><i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">With INTIMINA\u2019s research showing more than a third (34%) of women would use menstrual leave if it was an option and they were experiencing excruciating pain, it\u2019s clear more needs to be done in making sure people are able to take the necessary time off due to period symptoms.\u201d<\/span><\/i><\/p>\n<p><b>Thorsten Kiefer, CEO at WASH United, the initiators of MH Day, says:<\/b> <i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">\u201cNo one should be stigmatised, excluded, or discriminated against just because they menstruate. Severe menstrual symptoms should be treated like any other health issue. Women who suffer from debilitating menstrual symptoms should have access to paid leave. In every country. Period.\u201d<\/span><\/i><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">For more information on how to talk about periods in the workplace visit:<\/span><\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/www.intimina.com\/blog\/should-you-talk-about-your-period-at-work\/\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">https:\/\/www.intimina.com\/blog\/should-you-talk-about-your-period-at-work\/<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>From dodgy prawns, sick pets, gym accidents and faulty plumbing to mystery viruses, new research\u00a0reveals the common excuses that one in four (24%) working women feel the need to use&hellip;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":19,"featured_media":21422,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"inline_featured_image":false},"categories":[2],"tags":[47,377],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v20.12 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/wordpress\/plugins\/seo\/ -->\n<title>The Most Common Excuses for Period Pains, According to a New Study - 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