‘Medical Misogyny’ leaves women in years of gynaecological pain: reports

The cause of endometriosis is unknown, and there is no cure for it.

That was the clinical refrain that Sarah, a writer living in the UK, encountered each time she was visiting clinics or while scrolling through the NHS website after she was diagnosed with endometriosis earlier this year.

A new report by the UK’s Women and Equalities Committee (WEC) found that gynaecological conditions such as endometriosis and adenomyosis are treated with inadequate care due to a “pervasive stigma”, a lack of education by healthcare professionals and “medical misogyny”.

“The condition took a physical and emotional toll on me,” Sarah tells TRT World. “I lost at least ten days every month to debilitating pain. My productivity, often measured by the number of words I write in a day, dwindled to less than a quarter of what I might achieve on non-period days.”

In search of solace, she turned to the words of Hilary Mantel, whose own experience with endometriosis lent her writing an unflinching honesty.

Mantel’s prose became a lifeline for Sarah, an anchor in a sea of unanswered questions. Yet, her work also highlighted a more troubling truth: that the condition that afflicts millions of women globally exists in the shadow of neglect and its cures unexplored by a system that seems content to let women’s pain linger at the margins.

Gynaecological conditions such as endometriosis and adenomyosis, which affect millions of women, remain understudied and poorly treated.

In the UK, endometriosis affects one in ten women. For those living with endometriosis—a condition in which tissue resembling the uterine lining grows outside the uterus—this systemic indifference has dire consequences. It can take years to secure a diagnosis.

Pain is “normalised”

The parliamentary report found that these conditions are often normalised by healthcare providers, leading to substandard care and delayed treatment. Even routine procedures such as IUD fittings, cervical screenings, and hysteroscopies are performed with insufficient regard for women’s comfort and dignity.

This lack of prioritisation, compounded by a dearth of awareness among primary care practitioners, leaves many women trapped in a cycle of suffering.

“I spent days recalling the menstrual histories of my mother and cousins. I convinced myself that what I suffered must be hereditary. It was easier to place blame on my genes than on the system,” Sarah said.

The consequences of such conditions are far-reaching. Lives are disrupted—careers stalled, relationships strained, and fertility jeopardized. Yet, gynaecological care remains on the periphery of healthcare priorities.

What can be done?

The recent report does not mince words: without increased funding and structural reform, millions will continue to bear the burden of indifference.

The committee’s recommendations call for urgent action. Increased investment in research, alongside dedicated funding for women’s health hubs, is essential.

More fundamentally, addressing the pervasive stigma surrounding gynaecological health will require a reckoning within the healthcare system—one that confronts and dismantles gendered biases.

Emma Cox, chief executive of Endometriosis UK, praised the report for amplifying the voices of those affected. She urged the government to translate its recommendations into meaningful change, promising that her organisation would work to ensure they are implemented.