SCBA Moves Supreme Court Over 'Period Checks' On Women Workers, Seeks Guidelines To Safeguard Menstrual Dignity

The Supreme Court Bar Association(SCBA) has filed a writ petition in the Supreme Court over the reports that women workers at the Maharashi Dayanand University, Haryana, were allegedly subjected to degrading checks to verify whether they were menstruating. It seeks directions to the Union Government and the State of Haryana to conduct a detailed inquiry into this incident. 

The SCBA has also prayed for the guidelines to be laid to ensure that the right to health, dignity, bodily autonomy and privacy of women and girls are not violated when they are menstruating and related gynaecological issues at the workplace and at educational institutions

According to the petition, on October 26, the three sanitation workers were called to duty on Sunday due to the visit of the Haryana Governor. SCBA refers to the written complaint lodged by the workers with the Registrar of the University, which states that they were instructed to work faster by their supervisors even though they were menstruating and were not feeling well. They were also asked for proof that these women were menstruating. 

"It is most disturbing that the supervisors appeared to have demanded photographic proof from the workers by asking them to send photos of their sanitary pads. The workers were verbally abused, humiliated and pressured until they were compelled to take photographs in the washroom."

SCBA states that this is not a lone incident, as such incidents where dignity, privacy and bodily autonomy of women and girls have occurred in many institutional settings. It has cited a recent report of The Hindu, 'Girls made to strip for menstruation check: Thane school principal, another staffer arrested,' where girls studying in classes 5 to 10 at a private school in Maharashtra were called to the school's convention hall and were shown photos of blood stains in the toilets and floors by screening them through a projector. The students were then called to the toilet to check if they were menstruating. 

"The Petitioner humbly submits that these incidents of women and girls being subjected to invasive and degrading checks in various institutional settings to check whether they are menstruating is in gross violation of their right to life, dignity, privacy and bodily integrity under Article 21 of the Constitution of India. Women workers, especially unorganised workers, have a right to decent working conditions which respect their biological differences and make room for adequate concessions such that they are not subject to humiliating checks when they are suffering from menstruation-related pain and discomfort," as averred in the petition.

The SCBA's petition cites K.S. Puttaswamy v. Union of India (2017) to underscore the right to bodily privacy, Suchita Srivastava v. Chandigarh Administration (2009) to highlight autonomy, and Vishaka v. State of Rajasthan (1997) for the right to safe working conditions.

The petition also refers to the Supreme Court's 2024 ruling in Rape and Murder of Trainee Doctor in Kolkata, In Re, which recognised how patriarchal biases endanger women professionals, emphasising that “preserving safe conditions of work is central to realising equality of opportunity.”

In its plea, the SCBA urged the Supreme Court to evolve binding guidelines, similar to the Vishaka Guidelines, to ensure that the right to health, dignity, bodily autonomy and privacy of women and girls are not violated when they are going through menstruation and related gynaecological issues at the workplace and at educational institutions.

It called for mandatory protocols, awareness programmes, and institutional mechanisms to ensure respectful treatment of women employees and students.

The petition is drawn by Advocates Sadhana Madhavan and Karishma Maria, settled by Senior Advocate Aparna Bhat and filed through Advocate on Record Pragya Baghel. 

Case Details: SCBA v UOI & Anr|Writ Petition(Crl) No___2025