Not allowed to run a women's health event at work

[Iamsorryyes]

And I work in a hospital!

I'm a HCP and currently have to work alongside our Equality and Inclusion Team. My colleagues are putting the brakes on an event for women's health because the title isn't inclusive and want to change the name to something else that is non binary. What can I say? Help me form my argument please?

That's stupid.

So you need to find a word that both explains what the meeting is about e.g. the cervix, but if you use a term that some idiots people feel excludes them you're not being inclusive.
I don't have a penis, I'd feel quite welcome to attend a seminar on male health (if it was clear that everyone was welcome).

Tell the EI lead to come up with something.

Could you call it gynecology group? It seems ridiculous you can't call it women's.
Then I guess put for women, trans men or non binary to discuss reproductive health?
Then bullet points like
Cervical screening
Endomitriosis
Abnormal vaginal pain/ bleeding
Contraception advice
UTI
STI etc

Not ideal but then put a picture of a womb/vagina/ovaries etc in case it wasn't obvious?!

@Soontobe60 they offer the ability to do questions anonymously if they want so there's some privacy there. They did a survey in the topic of men and only a very small percentage didn't want it open to them.

There's also a men's network that was initially chaired by a women until the men stepped up. Women can join their events.

I'm not in either network but have friends that run the events and I attend every once in a while.

An event at a hospital being named or taglined "Women's health" is a stupid idea anyway. Everything happening at a hospital is about health, it tells you nothing.

Hi @Iamsorryyes

Have you asked the equality lead for suggestions? They should really be advising on appropriate language and then you can challenge back on this instead of you having to create something and face into a debate!

I really hate being called a "service user" so I like the joke you have made here.

Tell them you are being inclusive to disabled people, people with communication disabilities and women with English as s second language by making the language clear... Otherwise one might think they are racist and ablist.

I would not give up on the word women. Add something if necessary, but insist on "women". Anything else is ableist and makes it hard for the event to be found online for women, so it is no longer accessible. Check if any events with the word "men" have been approved and use that as precedent.

Men can attend as supportive others. The health issues that are included are only present in female bodies.

Thanks lots of good suggestions. The EI lead has made a suggestion but it excludes any sense that female patients have asked for this to meet their needs and basically sets the precedent for all future events, workshops for staff and patients having to erase biological reality. I don't want to argue the title per se, I want to challenge the need to erase women from it at all.

I have just googled NHS Womens Health. Much to my surprise, when you click through to the individual topics every one refers to Women, Women’s health, etc. an example ‘ Endometriosis can affect women of any age, including teenagers.‘ suggest you refer your EDI lead to this.

Have there been any events around mens health which have been advertised specifically for men? If so, you could use this as a precedent

FFS. Awful. This is utter madness.

Have there ever been any men’s health events in your organisation? I find it interesting that it’s women who are erased in this new world of so called inclusive approaches, rarely men. If men’s or male health events have happened you’d have a strong argument that it would be discriminatory not to allow a women’s health event.

Though I agree with a pp who observed that saying ‘women’s health’ doesn’t really help to actually describe what it’s about if it is something specific, rather than just the general health of women. Would it be clearer to say it’s about gynae matters? And then a sub header about who it is aimed at (biological females and anyone who is affected by the issues under discussion - and all who wish to better educated or supportive around these issues).

Might be worth broaching it from the PoV that to not label the event correctly (that it's relating to women's health specifically) runs the risk of alienating or confusing those where English is not their first language.

I'd imagine that wouldn't be very helpful with regards to the stats of ethnic minorities receiving poorer healthcare and would likely reflect badly on a DEI Leader...
Try to frame it in a way that looks worse for the DEI leader if they were to not be clear basically.

If you are targeting a minority race or religion to the women's group then it will be accepted but just 'women', no it won't be accepted. This was my experience.

“The person leading on it wants to call it Women's Health but my EI lead is saying no.”

How can an EDI person wield such power when it comes to health? This is fucking outrageous. Sorry for my language op but how frustrating for you, your colleagues and your patients, when ‘women’s health’ pretty much says what it does on the tin. The world has truly gone mad.

So it excludes people (women) who have a mental health problem? I would think they were in greatest need, but I don't see how you will get them through the door.

Can you name it after what you plan to talk about? There’s a menopause group at my work these days.

Why can't you just say "this isn't for prostate cancer, it's about smear tests and breast cancer, men can;t get those" - what the actual fuck. They can't fire you for this

Fanny Peculiar - open to
all.

The EI lead has made a suggestion but it excludes any sense that female patients have asked for this to meet their needs and basically sets the precedent for all future events, workshops for staff and patients having to erase biological reality.

This makes it sound even worse. So female patients have asked for this to meet their needs, and a non medical person is telling them it is not inclusive to ask for it. How would for instance, having an event about C sections, be in any way other than about women's health. its nuts. The fact that others, partners, what ever can attend shows that the intent isn't to be exclusionary.

So in terms of public relations for some word smith pen scribbled to presume to tell women something they have asked for isn't in their mind politically correct it totally bonkers.

I know OP doesn't want to escalate but would seriously think that HR or whoever should be asked to ensure that someone's professional area of work (the event organiser) is not undermined by some obscure, not univerally accepted set of beliefs.

And equally important as not to collude with snubbing female patients, is the fact that staff - who are the trained professionals - dont have to undermine and obscure their knowledge for someone who has no importance what so ever in the delivery of health care.

Surely some parts of the NHS are now aware that many, many people think this daft ideology has gone to far, and employers should not be imposing this on their (trained professional) employees.

Its outrageous.

And as on another thread implies that the employer is prioritising one set of beliefs (trans magic) over another set of beliefs (biological reality).

Do they want to end up being sued by a health professional saying they were blocked from doing their work in a professional and safe way by an ideologue?

I imagine it's possibly some sort of medical conferencing where the attendees are also medical professionals of various backgrounds but the focus of the top of the conference is surrounding women's health so the attendees could be male or female.

Sadly many parts of the NHS are captured as we know, so rather than the focus being a campaign surrounding women's health it will turn into an IED bunfight.

I have sadly attended events like this. Not within the NHS but for services supporting women. One of them during breastfeeding week. It was an experience.

Could you call it a "Cervix Seminar" or a "Period Workshop" or something along those lines?

This is ludicrous but you work in the NHS so I am not surprised. Can you not call it Women's Health Event (open to all). Alternatively contact a couple of neighbouring Trusts and see if they have run similar events and what they called them.
Another idea would be to contact NHS England or the GMC for guidance, they always give sound advice and will no doubt have whole departments dedicated to such matters!!