At the University of Western Brittany (UBO), the Training and University Life Commission, made up of 36 members including six student representatives, works to implement projects to improve the lives of students. It was on June 25, 2024, during a working group launched by elected student representatives from the Bouge ton campus and Union Pirate lists, as well as other students, professors and doctors, that the menstrual leave project was discussed for the first time.
“A well-worked project”
Mélissa Grenier, 21, a second-year psychology degree student and elected to the commission for the Bouge ton campus list, affirms that menstrual leave was part of “our profession of faith” and had been “identified as a need concerning health issues that cannot wait.” Thus, several working groups have been organized since the start of the year in conjunction, in particular, with technical services, the Directorate of Studies and Student Life to reflect on application options.
On November 5, the menstrual leave project at UBO was voted almost unanimously with only one abstention. “A well-worked project, even between the unions,” specifies Clémence Letrillard, 21, a third-year sociology student, also elected to the commission and representative of the Pirate Union, who also notes “collective choices” making it possible to facilitate the lives of university students and staff.
“Painful periods remain an invisible and normalized subject”
The menstrual leave project was “driven by something national, which has gained momentum”, affirms the latter because “painful periods remain an invisible and normalized subject”. This is why other actions, such as distributions of menstrual panties by the Pirate Union or round tables, awareness campaigns and an assessment to evaluate the use of this future menstrual leave with an anonymous questionnaire by the Bouge list your campus, are intended to raise awareness and speak out on the issue of menstrual pain.
