Bodyform reveals #PainStories to break silence around endometriosis and women’s pain

Bodyform, known as Libresse outside the UK, has created a campaign to support earlier diagnosis of endometriosis and break the silence about the pain that many women endure throughout their lives. 

#PainStories, by Abbott Mead Vickers BBDO, launched Tuesday (2 March) during Endometriosis Awareness Month. It tackles the “gender pain gap” by sharing stories and helping to articulate experiences of pain, with a focus on endometriosis. 

An estimated one in 10 women of reproductive age – about 176 million women globally – suffers from endometriosis, a condition resulting from the appearance of endometrial tissue outside the uterus and causing pelvic pain. Despite the prevalence of the condition, however, it takes an average of seven-and-a-half years to diagnose it. 

These delayed diagnoses are partly down to the perception that severe period pain is “normal”, according to the Essity brand. “[Endometriosis] is ever present but not out in the open. It is quite a suppressed thing,” Lauren Peters, one of the AMV creatives behind #PainStories, said. 

#PainStories features the “Pain Dictionary”, a collection of new words and definitions for pain that are drawn from real descriptions from people with endometriosis. Each definition is brought to life by an artist to create a verbal and visual language for endometriosis pain, with the aim of helping people recognise and articulate their pain and to shorten long diagnostic delays. 

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Source: Campaign Live, 2 March 2021