International Women's Day (IWD) is a global day celebrating the social, economic, cultural and political achievements of women. The day also marks a call to action for progressing gender parity. Significant activity is witnessed all around the world, as groups come together to celebrate women's achievements or rally for women's equality.
Marked annually on March 8th, IWD is one of the most important days of the year to:
- Celebrate women's achievements
- Educate and awareness raise for women's equality
- Call for positive change advancing women
- Lobby for accelerated gender parity
- Fundraise for female-focused charities
Each year on this date, organisations around the globe run events, share resources and participate in the conversation.
There are many ways that we must accelerate gender parity. One that I want to focus on here is menopause. Menopause affects every biological woman, and we simply will not have gender parity until organisations appropriately address menopause within the workplace.
Research from the CIPD revealed that 3 out of 5 working women between the ages of 45 and 55, who are experiencing menopause symptoms, say it has a negative impact on them at work.
The average age of the menopause is 51. Typically, women experience at least some symptoms for around 4 years – for some it is as many as ten years. In many women, symptoms such as hot flushes, difficulty sleeping, and problems with memory and concentration can have a significant impact on their daily life and work.
Whilst these won’t usually amount to a disability, it still makes sense to make simple adjustments to help women with severe symptoms keep working effectively, to continue to thrive at work and achieve all they are capable of. You might also face age discrimination, sex discrimination or unfair dismissal claims if you treat a woman unfairly because she’s going through the menopause.
Despite the fact that the menopause is being talked about more in the workplace, there is still lots more we need to do.
So, what can you do to support the women in your workplace?
Invest in appropriate menopause training. Train your managers and leaders appropriately and provide menopause awareness training for everyone.
Contact our team now to discuss how we can deliver accredited Menopause Experts Group Training for your team and also to find out how we can support you with menopause policy and processes.
With love, the MHIB team.
