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Updated March 8th, 2020 at 21:10 IST

China’s neglect, discrimination towards female workers cause outrage

The women workers in China have been struggling to access menstrual products and battling ill-fitted protection suits to keep themselves safe while working.

Reported by: Kunal Gaurav
China
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China’s negligence towards their female workers present at the frontline of coronavirus fight has left people furious. The women workers have been struggling to access menstrual products and battling ill-fitted protection suits to keep themselves safe while working at the forefront of coronavirus fight.

Several reports emerged highlighting that the administration not only neglected the primary needs of their female employees but also had a discriminatory behaviour towards them. There have been reports of some medical staff being given birth control pills to delay their periods which caused widespread outrage.

Shanghai resident Jiang Jinjing asked about the issue on China's Twitter-like Weibo platform and women flooded the comment section including urgent appeals from women from Hubei province, the worst affected area due to coronavirus in China. In the comments section, women told her that their periods were creating a lot of trouble while working in protective gears.

Jiang said that many women even avoided using the toilet to conserve their protective suits. One woman told her that she can’t even eat or drink all day while wearing the isolation suit, let alone change sanitary napkins. After Jiang raised the issue from several platforms, individuals and companies sent more than 600,000 sanitary pads and period-proof underwear.

Read: Coronavirus Outbreak: Hong Kong Reports Third Death From Deadly Epidemic

'Would rather take progesterone'

A Shanghai university hospital had even boasted that it was donating 200 bottles of pills to postpone the periods of female workers. Later the hospital defended saying the medication consumed by the workers was voluntary. A Weibo user accused the hospital of creating this kind of volunteering to avoid providing sanitary pads.

"Of course they would rather take progesterone than stain their protective suits with blood,” wrote a user.

Read: Scientists In Southern China Reveal Shape And Behaviour Of Coronavirus

Chinese doctors have also been getting exhausted due to the marathon task of dealing with thousands of coronavirus patients and the lack of protective equipment. The medical team is highly understaffed compared to the disproportionate number of coronavirus cases, especially in Wuhan, the epicentre of the outbreak. 

Read: Varanasi School Comes Up With ‘karo Na’ List To Raise Awareness On Coronavirus

Read: Delhi Woman Asks Govt To Monitor Supply Of Masks & Sanitizers Amidst Coronavirus Panic

(With agency inputs)

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Published March 8th, 2020 at 21:10 IST

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