Outrage as no women appear on endometriosis panel

‘Masterclass’ includes seven male experts on condition that affects millions of women

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A “masterclass” on endometriosis has been criticised for not including any women on its panel of experts.

A notice for the class, organised by the European Endometriosis League (EEL), was shared on Twitter and shows seven male experts on the panel.

Professor Pragya Agarwal, a behaviour and data scientist and visiting professor of social inequities at Loughborough University, posted the notice and questioned why no female experts had been included in EEL’s “masterclass”.

According to the EEL’s website, the aim of the class - which is due to take place in The Lister Hospital in Chelsea, London, in November - is to provide “certified education and training in diagnosis and therapy of endometriosis for professionals in gynecology with experience in endometriosis”.

The goal of the organisation, whose board consists of six men and one woman from all over Europe, is to raise awareness and support research around endometriosis, as well as to train and educate medical professionals.

Endometriosis is a condition where tissue similar to the lining of the womb starts to grow in other places, which can have a major impact on women’s lives.

It can affect women of any age and is the second most common gynaecological condition in the UK, affecting 1.5 million women.

Social media users condemned the absence of any female experts on EEL’s panel, with many saying they were “not surprised”.

“Given that there are female specialists in Europe, why on earth is this masterclass delivered by men?” one person asked, adding that she was “flabbergasted”.

Another suggested that “patriarchy” was the reason that the panel did not include any women.

She added: “It may sound too simplistic, but men don’t know what it’s like to live in a female body. Therefore, they do everything based on male bodies. But since they think male is the standard, they think they actually know female bodies.”

A third said: “This is such a typical example for what’s going on in research on endometriosis. We need more research, and we especially need much more diversity among researchers in this field.”

However, some people said the gender of the doctor mattered less to them than getting a diagnosis for the condition.

One person wrote: “May I just say I suffered from endometriosis for 25 years and the two women doctors over that time were the dismissive disinterested ones.

“Yes, this is a masterclass, but from my perspective… I really couldn’t give two hoots about the specialist’s gender.”

According to Endometriosis UK, it takes an average of eight years for women to get a diagnosis of the condition from the onset of symptoms.

Symptoms can include debilitating pain during menstruation, pain during or after sex, pain when urinating or defecating during menstruation, feel sick, having constipation or diarrhoea, or blood in the urine during menstruation, and difficulty getting pregnant.

The cause of the condition is not known and there is no definite cure.

The Independent has contacted EEL for comment.