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While we hear so much about gender equality in the UK and worldwide, there are many issues affecting the health of women and girls which still remain “off-limits”. This stigma often causes women to ignore concerns about their health, while the fear of embarrassment can leave them suffering in silence. We must do more to address this and break down taboos surrounding gynaecological health.

For Endometriosis Awareness Week (3-11 March), the charity, Endometriosis UK, is asking women what they wish they had been told about the condition. Catherine Nestor, Co-Vice Chair of the RCOG Women’s Network, speaks out about her experience of endometriosis and the importance of healthcare professionals understanding the condition:

International Women’s Day is an opportunity to recognise the achievements of women without regard to divisions, whether national, ethnic, linguistic, cultural, economic or political. It has been celebrated for more than 100 years, and the growing international women’s movement has helped make the commemoration a rallying point to build support for women’s rights and participation in the political and economic arenas.

Did you know it takes an average of 7.5 years for a woman to be diagnosed with endometriosis – a gynaecological condition surrounded by taboos, myths and a lack of awareness? New guidelines published today aim to speed up the diagnosis and treatment of women with endometriosis by highlighting symptoms to doctors, such as pelvic pain, painful periods, and infertility.

Improving the health and life chances of women and their babies are issues very close to my heart, so it was a real honour to launch the new Barts Research Centre for Women’s Health earlier this month.

Each day in the UK, two women lose their battle with cervical cancer, the most common cancer in women under 35, yet new statistics reveal almost half of women don’t know what the cervix is. 

Dr Hani Fawzi, RCOG Vice President for Global Health, writes…

Obstetric fistula is one of the most serious and tragic injuries that can happen to a woman during childbirth. It occurs when prolonged obstructed labour without medical intervention causes a hole between the vagina and rectum or bladder. In 90% of obstetric fistula cases, the baby is stillborn, while obstructed labour accounts for 6% of all global maternal mortality. This devastating condition affects more than two million women worldwide, with up to 100,000 new cases occurring each year, yet is largely preventable.

It is shocking that one in three women around the world experience physical or sexual violence in their lifetime. Research suggest that these women are more than twice as likely to have an abortion and almost twice as likely to experience depression compared to women who have not experienced partner violence.

Today marks the first World Menopause Day since the National Institute of Health and Care Excellence (NICE) published its first guideline on the diagnosis and management of the menopause nearly one year ago.