International Women’s Day 2025 campaign theme is 'Accelerate Action.‘ It calls for increased momentum and urgency to address the systemic barriers and biases that all people identifying as women face in the quest for gender equality. This is an antidote to some of Trump’s executive orders that included reinstating the *global gag rule, condemning equality, diversity, and inclusion initiatives and instructing the censorship of scientific publications that include reference to LGBTQ+ or gender “forbidden terms.”
As a practitioner whose work is centred around women’s health, I continue to see inequities in the form of medical gaslighting, disproportionate contraceptive responsibility, almost every mid-life symptom being assigned to perimenopause and women presenting with burnout from domestic mental load.
I had a patient this week, where I sensitively broke the news of serious pelvic pathology found from a specialist ultrasound. Her relief of knowing that her symptoms were real and this wasn’t in her head had me thinking something is seriously wrong with our health system if these findings are welcomed. Of course, uncovering the underlying cause is critical, but years of missed opportunities prolonged her symptom experience. Organising these findings is an example of our professions quiet but important work - taking a thorough case, fostering effective referrals, offering multiple pathways of support, particularly if/when the conditions may fail to respond to the generic hormonal measures conventionally on offer.
International Women’s Day is an opportunity to take stock, to unite and hopefully feel part of a greater community. If you have struggled to find an answer for your symptoms and if you’re looking for thorough, holistic, inclusive healthcare, I’d love to support you.
*See the previous post 'Reproductive Rights are Human Rights' for more on the Global Gag Rule.
References:
We must fight even harder to protect women’s health in the era of Trump and the global right. BMJ2025;388:r459
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