Bar body petitions SC to frame guidelines over 'menstruation checks'

New Delhi, Nov 12 (IANS) The Supreme Court Bar Association (SCBA) has approached the apex court seeking guidelines to ensure that the rights to health, dignity, bodily autonomy, and privacy of women and girls are not violated when they experience menstruation or related gynaecological issues at the workplace and in educational institutions.

The writ petition, filed under Article 32 of the Constitution, stems from an incident that reportedly took place on October 26 at Maharshi Dayanand University in Haryana’s Rohtak, where three female sanitation workers were allegedly forced to provide photographic proof of menstruation to their supervisors.

According to the petition, the workers, called in for duty on a Sunday due to the visit of the Haryana Governor, were "verbally abused, humiliated and pressured until they were compelled to take photographs in the washroom".

The plea said that the supervisors, hired through the Haryana Kaushal Rozgar Nigam Limited, "demanded photographic proof from the workers by asking them to send photos of their sanitary pads".

Following the incident, the university reportedly suspended the two supervisors and initiated an internal inquiry.

The Haryana State Commission for Women (HSCW) also took suo motu cognisance, seeking reports from the varsity and Rohtak police.

The Assistant Registrar and the two supervisors have since been booked under various provisions of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita, including sections relating to assault and outraging the modesty of a woman.

Calling the incident "disturbing", the SCBA said: "These incidents are in gross violation of the right to life, dignity, privacy and bodily integrity under Article 21 of the Constitution of India."

The plea also referred to similar instances of "period-shaming" and invasive checks in schools and workplaces over the years, including a 2017 case where 70 girls in Uttar Pradesh were allegedly stripped naked to check for menstrual blood, and a 2020 incident in Gujarat where 68 college students were asked to remove their underwear for inspection.

The petition, filed through advocate Pragya Baghel, has sought directions to the Centre and the Haryana government to conduct a detailed inquiry into the Rohtak incident and issue nationwide guidelines "to ensure that the right to health, dignity, bodily autonomy and privacy of women and girls is not violated when they are going through menstruation and related gynaecological issues at workplaces and educational institutions".

--IANS

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