World menopause day for 50% of people

I have used the link again to say I am pleased they have made a start on editing the document by including the words woman/women, but that they still have a way to go to remove misleading and poorly phrased statements. I pointed out that this document will be widely read and that many organisations will use it as a template so it is vital that errors , including ambiguous phrases and misinformation ,are removed at source.

All power to MN though.

I'm not sure the new version is any better TBH.

"The menopause is a natural stage of life which affects around half of the population. This can include:

- women
- trans people – 'trans' is an umbrella term used to describe people whose gender is not the same as the sex they were assigned at birth
-intersex people – some people prefer the term 'differences in sex development' (DSD)"

Using the word "can" in this way implies that some women are exempt from the menopause.

It also says

"It's important for employers to be aware that the menopause and its symptoms can affect any of their staff at any time, including:

-women, trans and intersex people going through the menopause
-relatives, colleagues and carers who are supporting someone going through it"

This implies that any staff member could experience menopausal symptoms at any time, even if they are young, or male.

Seems rather poorly thought out to me.

Too little too late.

I'm pleased to see that it now says that the list of people affected "can include women". Huh.

I was going to submit my comment too, but I'll have to reword it now somehow. It still makes it sound like a lottery as to who gets it or not, but it's harder to complain specifically now.

It's not perfect but I think we can consider this a minor victory. The power of mumsnet!

They still talk about "sex assigned at birth" though 🙄

It is good that they responded so quickly though I suppose, and that they got enough feedback to make them change it!

It is marginally better.

I still don't know why "intersex" needs to be on there, why would an employer know if someone had an intersex condition?

Hmm, that's better though still not great (you can see how they've lobbed the word "women" in but not done a full review, so it now suggests for example that "intersex" people who experience menopause are not women). I still hope Janice Turner, James Kirkup etc will write about it though, just the fact this made it onto the web in the first place is shocking! Did anyone manage to archive the original version?

They have already changed it! Who says writing doesn't work?

Go vipers!

Golly. If only there were a way of identifying which 50% of the population. I mean, there must be some kind of way of figuring this out...

I've just looked at this again and women are now included on the first page. Did I miss this yesterday, or have they actually changed the wording? As a result of all our feedback? Am I being too hopeful?

Thank you. I will definitely complain.

I made a formal complaint after I left the feedback.

They are an agency under BEIS but the BEIS webpage says that any complaints about one of their agencies must be directed through that agency's own complaints process.

So if you want to make a formal complaint (I have as they are misrepresenting the law) here is the form www.acas.org.uk/how-to-complain

www.acas.org.uk/about-us/how-we-are-governed

I have given feedback but I still feel so cross about this. ACAS set guidance for employers and the words they use matter.

I know they are a government body, but who are they accountable too? I would like to take this higher up.

I too lamented the lack of a descriptive word to describe the 50% of the population affected.

We are way past that. A descriptive word to describe cessation of menstruation and fertility seems beyond them.

I too lamented the lack of a descriptive word to describe the 50% of the population affected.

"It's important for employers to be aware that the menopause and its symptoms can affect any of their staff at any time"

Absolute bollocks.

I fed back on the ACAS page asking if they'd considered people with SENs or ESL and to stop being so silly.

I enjoyed that.

Thanks for the thread. I’ve filled in two far. It is indeed very cathartic. Unfortunately the NHS link is due to be updated soon. I imagine the words woman and women will be purged.

Have commented also! Though I may be tempted to put some more comments later

Honestly, reading it reminded me of one of those (Scottish?) sword dances, where they have the crossed swords on the floor and do all the complicated footwork while avoiding stepping on them. The complicated dance they do to avoid any mention of the taboo words - not only "women", but "periods" and "menstruation" (the entire reason we have menopause, as well as of course "hormones")...can you imagine them trying to describe the symptoms? "Well, you may get dryness in your... area, and people above this age should get their.....chest...screened regularly, and people who have had....part of their insides...removed may experience...the feeling-hot-and-getting-angry thing... earlier than others..."