Story highlights
- Anhui province introduces new rule to allow women to take leave for severe menstrual pain
- Experts say it probably wouldn't work for women who need them
- High-profile women have drawn attention to the problem
Beijing (CNN)Each month, Shao Jinwen's lower abdomen throbs with a familiar, all-consuming pain.
It's a pain she's had to endure each month since she had her first period at age 13.
When we meet in Starbucks in downtown Beijing on a cheerless, sub-zero winter day, the 24-year-old theater director is looking pale and has four heat pads stuck to her waist to ease the breath-taking cramps.
Shao Jinwen has suffered from acute menstrual cramps since age 13.
"I just want to cut that part of my body off completely," she says.
However, Shao is hopeful Chinese regulations that grant leave to female workers for severe period pain in some provinces will eventually be extended to Beijing.