The gender pain gap: Why it’s time to take women’s health more seriously

Compared to men, women take far longer to receive diagnoses or treatment from healthcare professionals.

A fundamental flaw exists in the healthcare system, and it’s having dire consequences for women.

This is the fact that pain in women is more poorly understood, and thus mistreated, compared to pain in men – due to systemic gaps and biases.

It’s known as the gender pain gap. And it is widening – a recent report, commissioned by Nurofen, shows that in 2023 11 per cent more women than men feel their pain has been ignored or dismissed, compared to 7 per cent in 2022.

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Dr Marieke Bigg, sociologist and author of This Won’t Hurt: How Medicine Fails Women says: "Healthcare professionals continually misattributes women’s symptoms to stress or ‘hormones’, while men are more likely to be sent for a physical check – even when complaining of the same type of pain. Over time, this has led to women’s pain being overlooked, resulting in a gender pain gap. Women are waiting longer to get a diagnosis for their pain, and do not feel empowered to push for the support they need. This is unacceptable.”