World menopause day for 50% of people

[OhDear2200]

This has pissed me right off

www.acas.org.uk/menopause-at-work

Interestingly under the law bit gender reassignment is before sex.

Too little too late.

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.

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.

Their entire section on the menopause is atrocious and unhelpful.

On this page for instance,

www.acas.org.uk/menopause-at-work/menopause-and-the-law

they explain how someone suffering from menopause symptoms could be discriminated against on the grounds of four different protected characteristics:

-age
-disability
-gender reassignment
-sex

For both age and disability they manage to explain how the protected characteristic is engaged if the employee has menopause symptoms and claims to be treated unfairly.

But they are unable to explain how gender reassignment applies (even though that is dead easy and a real shame they messed this up).

Gender Reassignment applies in the case of women with the protected characteristic of gender reassignment, who transition medically and who, as a result of either puberty blockers and/or cross-sex hormones or a hysterectomy (typically within about five years of going on testosterone), may be going through the menopause at a much younger age than typical.

Employers should be advised here to be sensitive to both the medical issues in play as well as the psychological impact on someone with gender dysphoria of going through an exclusively female experience while presenting as a man, at a much younger age than other women. Sadly, because ACAS is captured and has loaned out its collective brain cells to an ideology, they just waffle about the protected characteristic of gender reassignment in general.

And of course they completely fuck up on the protected characteristic of sex, even though it's much more likely that this is the protected characteristic under which an employer might be challenged for unfair treatment arising from menopause issues at work. But that would require acknowledging that this issue only effects female employees. And they don't want to do that.

For instance, it would be prudent here to acknowledge the importance of privacy and dignity for employees suffering from heavy bleeding and bleed through, who may need to be able to access a single-sex toilet or changing room to clean up and get changed. But again, that would require admitting this is about female biology.

Complete car crash this. I cannot recall another advisory text so singularly unsuccessful at accurately advising those it purports to protect.

Wow! They changed it (I accept minor change) but still.

I can’t say how much this has cheered me up after a shity week.

It’s brilliant that it’s been changed. Not perfect. But so much better. Well done!

Honestly, I'm on team GC but I found the article perfectly clear. There is a link which you can follow which explains that the menopause is the cessation of periods etc.
It said woman and some trans and non binary people.
Honestly, I think we need to pick our battles.

@OhDear2200

Wow! They changed it (I accept minor change) but still.

I can’t say how much this has cheered me up after a shity week.

Apologies- I hadn't read the update. Well done to all who spoke up and made the change. Thank you!

Yes, if you only read it now after the edits, it doesn't seem particularly worth fussing about. 

Well done OP for bringing this to our attention, and @Piapiano for pointing out the feedback button.

💪 💪

Honestly, I'm on team GC but I found the article perfectly clear. There is a link which you can follow which explains that the menopause is the cessation of periods etc.

Why on Earth wouldn’t they explain this in the article? Why have a link? Can you think of any other medical condition that can be explained in a sentence where an explanation wouldn’t be provided?

The only reason you can understand the article is because you already know what menopause is.

I’m really confused about why you would call yourself ‘team gc’, but not want an article on menopause in the workplace by acas to acknowledge the link to sex discrimination.

What do you think ‘team gc’ is?

@merrymouse

Honestly, I'm on team GC but I found the article perfectly clear. There is a link which you can follow which explains that the menopause is the cessation of periods etc.

Why on Earth wouldn’t they explain this in the article? Why have a link? Can you think of any other medical condition that can be explained in a sentence where an explanation wouldn’t be provided?

The only reason you can understand the article is because you already know what menopause is.

I’m really confused about why you would call yourself ‘team gc’, but not want an article on menopause in the workplace by acas to acknowledge the link to sex discrimination.

What do you think ‘team gc’ is?

She didn't realise she was reading the edited version! While still not ideal, just a couple of 'women' does improve it considerably.

The link is fine - it's to the NHS site which has more info than is in the remit of ACAS.

The link is fine - it's to the NHS site which has more info than is in the remit of ACAS.

Except ACAS do believe it’s in their remit to say that trans women experience menopause symptoms when their hormone levels are unstable.

This is misinformation. Hormone fluctuation is not menopause.

This is important because menopause has a specific meaning - the cessation of periods. I’m not trying to belittle the experiences that trans women have whilst on hormones, but that should have a separate policy.

Can we imagine circumstances in which ACAS wanted to provide employers with advice on how to support employees with prostate cancer. Would ACAS put up a page that said 'x% of people will get this' and gave no further information about which people, what the symptoms were etc? I can't.

I'm delighted a small edit has been made, but this whole situation is mad.

Agreed. For one thing, the document mentions ages, presumably TW can be affected at any age so it doesn't actually serve them well to be lumped in with women in this instance.

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)

Omg that's hilarious. It's absolutely no better than it was at the start of the day.

It affects about half the population because it affects virtually all women. To put "this can include women" is bonkers language.

That sentence should say:

The menopause is a natural stage of life which most women experience around the ages of 45-55.
It can also affect female people who are:
• 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)

Yes...they could make it clearer and less silly if they restricted it to the menopause as per its title.

Women,of course, can suffer from hormonal fluctuations at other stages of their lives, either naturally or due to various forms of contraception. We don't expect that to be mentioned in a document specifically about menopause.

@TeamRex

That sentence should say:

The menopause is a natural stage of life which most women experience around the ages of 45-55.
It can also affect female people who are:
• 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)

Much better.

Have just emailed them to ask how they advise their members to reduce their 50% risk of being in the affected group.
I wondered if diet and exercise might help.

Menopause is the cessation of periods, so the trans people it affects must be transmen.

I did miss the bit that says it can affect any of their workforce at any time though .
I shall email about that.

@CatWarbler

I did miss the bit that says it can affect any of their workforce at any time though . I shall email about that.

Ah they've got round it by saying it includes people who are supporting people who are going through the menopause. I suppose it is really helpful for everybody to understand the menopause, so in that sense, education is useful. But if it's going to be useful I agree it needs to be clearer and stop falling over itself to be so inclusive that it excludes the women who are struggling.

I don't see how the menopause could ever be the basis for a discrimination claim on the basis of gender reassignment. If you're going through the menopause (whether chemically or naturally) it is because you are a woman. Therefore it can only be sex discrimination as it would be on the basis of your sex that you experience the menopause.

Gender is irrelevant to the menopause, and therefore to being discriminated against on the basis of menopause. It is all to do with sex and biology and nothing to do with gender reassignment.