Last month we attended an excellent event organised by the Scottish Women’s Convention talking about women and the menopause. A survey by the STUC Women’s Committee found that 32 per cent of female employees felt that the menopause was treated negatively in their workplace, while 62 per cent said it was treated “as a joke”.
The speakers talking about their lives, work and menopause experience were:
- Christina McKelvie, MSP Minster for Older People and Equalities
- Councillor Collette Stevenson, Depute Provost for South Lanarkshire
- Mandy Rhodes, Editor Holyrood Magazine
- Joyce Stevenson, Chair of STUC Women’s Committee
You can read the report from the conference here.
Even though it affects half the population, menopause was something that we are not used to talking about. But this is beginning to change and at Outside the Box, we are keen to join the conversation and make a difference to women’s lives.
A couple of things we are going to do now:
- Develop a menopause policy for staff and volunteers – nearly two thirds of women between 50 and 64 are in paid employment
- Hold some conversations with the women and groups we work with – collecting and sharing their stories
We would love to hear from you about:
- any support you received that was useful
- any support that you would have liked to receive that wasn’t available
- hints and tips that you would offer to other women
- if you are an employer, the things that you are doing to support women before, during and after the menopause
Lets get talking and make this a big conversation.
Get in touch to share your stories via email: louise@otbds.org
We Need To Talk About The Menopause from Outside The Box on Vimeo.