How close are we to closing the gender pain gap?

The institution of medicine has always excluded women. From ancient beliefs that the womb wandered through the body causing 'humours' to 19th century Freudian hysteria, female bodies have been marked as unruly, defective, and lesser.

We are still feeling the effects of these beliefs today. In 2008, a study of over 16,000 images in anatomy textbooks found that the white, heterosexual male was presented as the ‘universal model’ of a human being.

We see this play out in medical research, when it isn't considered necessary to include women's experiences: approximately 70% of people who experience chronic pain are women, and yet 80% of pain study participants are men or male rats.

We also see these beliefs inform clinical decisions. When experiencing pain, women are more likely to be given sedatives than painkillers, in a nod to the stereotype that women are more emotional and are therefore probably exaggerating the nature of their pain.

This phenomenon is known as the gender pain gap, which describes the disparities in medical care that men and women receive purely due to their gender.

But while awareness has risen over the last few years, how close are we to really closing the gender pain gap?

Join The Femedic and Hysterical Women in discussion with Dr Omon Imohi, Dr Hannah Short, and research charity Wellbeing of Women as we consider how far medicine has come and how far we still have to go.

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