Workplaces are failing women. Considering endometriosis affects one in 10 women and that is just one menstrual condition – there are many – where is the support, training and acknowledgment in the workplace?
I’ve had problematic periods since the age of 12 and they really started to escalate when I came off all contraception in my late 20s. By the time I was in my 30s, I had extreme pelvic pain throughout the month, not only during my period, as well as heavy bleeding to the extent that I would go to the toilet to change my pad and by the time I’d reached the sink to wash my hands I needed to change it again. Nausea and vomiting, extreme fatigue, diarrhoea and poor mental health are to name but a few symptoms.
Having these symptoms in an open-plan office is nothing short of horrendous – the embarrassment of having to constantly go back and forth to the toilet and praying that I had not bled through to my clothes or, worse still, my office chair. I discussed my ongoing issues with my line manager at the time. She was simply embarrassed and didn’t want to discuss it and couldn’t get out of the room quick enough. She struggled to look me in the eye and she was not the only one. I had multiple line managers who would offer a sympathetic look but lacked any actual support.
I faced disciplinary action if I had more than two sick occurrences in six months. There were no workplace adjustments offered and especially not for menstrual health issues.
It would mean taking my own annual leave when things were so bad that travelling on public transport and then a day in the office were simply not an option. When I was finally diagnosed six years ago, I went part time as the future of endless hormone treatments and multiple surgeries that lay ahead were too much.
I shouldn’t have had to do that. Employers should recognise the issues that come with menstruating, instead of ignoring it like a dirty little secret. They should ensure line managers are trained to know about menstrual health conditions like endometriosis. They should offer more home-working, appoint menstrual health champions and acknowledge the impact periods can have on their staff from the top down.
Instead, our own HR system to this day has no category for an absence relating to menstrual health. Anything period or blood-related is still seen as taboo and rarely discussed in the workplace. Even now when trying to raise awareness of endometriosis, I can be met with a stony silence and no committal for change.
