A petition on endometriosis sick pay is set to be debated in Westminster Hall today.
The petition calls for a paid 3-day statutory leave for people who suffer from the conditions of Endometriosis and adenomyosis, and so far it has amassed 109,000 signatures.
Endometriosis and adenomyosis are chronic conditions where tissue growth outside the uterus or inside the uterus causes discomfort, excessive menstrual bleeding and reproductive complications.
According to the charity Endometriosis UK, 1 in 10 women are affected by endometriosis or adenomyosis.
The campaign was launched by Michelle Dewa, who was hospitalised 23 three times in three months and was later diagnosed with endometriosis.
“I was getting sent home from school every month by 14, and my mum obviously did take me to the doctors, and they just dismissed it as bad period pains,” she said.
17 years ago, Michelle said there has been no “significant change” for women living with the condition.
Despite it impacting women’s lives daily, the condition is still widely unknown, and treatment options are limited.
Maria Ryan, who suffers from endometriosis, was misdiagnosed for years and severe pain became a normality.
“I have been working in the city and have to lie on public toilet floors in excruciating pain, unable to move” she said.
An incident that occurred many times before her claims were taken seriously.
Aside from physical pain, Maria was told at 22 that she would be at a huge risk of infertility.
Having delivered a baby girl safely last year at the age of 32, she reflected on this proposed bill: “This condition needs to be taken seriously, too many times I have no voice in my workplace.
“Now, considering going back to work as a new mother, I want my daughter to grow up in a world where women’s chronic and fertility issues are treated like other medical conditions by employers.”
Sab Batalla, a 22-year-old student who has suffered from adenomyosis since her teenage years, explained her first experience with the excessive menstrual bleeding caused by the illness:
“I was completely horrified and had to miss school for two weeks – one week I spent in hospital receiving blood transfusions and another week to recover from the blood loss”.
Sab’s condition, alike to many women, went undiagnosed for years and she spent her school years paranoid:
“I remember going throughout the whole school to pretend it wasn’t happening… I would sit on my foot so it wouldn’t make a stain where I sat.”
In light of the legislation, Sabine said: “I’m personally a very private person and this is not a thing you feel comfortable talking about with someone like your employer, having that right in place without having to explain it or overexplain would make me feel more comfortable.”
It took Sab five years to get a diagnosis, and the solutions for pain are limited as funding for the condition lacks resources.
This new legislation aims to protect those who have painful periods without a diagnosis, with the average waiting time for an endometriosis or adenomyosis diagnosis in the UK being a staggering eight years and nine months.
Eleni Kalopedis, a microbiome researcher, said of the bill: “Not only do I think it is absolutely within their rights and necessary, but it should also be more than three days, it is something, but not enough.
“It is a chronic condition, it is not something that goes away, it’s something you have for the rest of your life that will only get worse because of the barriers in healthcare treatment and diagnosis.”
However, the Government’s renewed Women’s Health Strategy promises to streamline gynaecological care and reduce the waitlist for diagnosis and access to treatment.
This petition proposes a similar model to the three-day paid leave introduced in Portugal in 2025 for women suffering from endometriosis and adenomyosis, which has been positively received and has increased recognition of the impact of these conditions.
The debate scheduled for tomorrow comes after a refusal of the government to assess it last April, but many are hopeful the outcome will be different this year.
Featured image credit: Mizuno K via Pexels
