Women with endometriosis face 'systemic misogyny'

"I hate to say it, but if this condition was happening to men, things would be very different," says Gill Capewell. Gill has endometriosis - and is one of multiple women who contacted me following my interview with businesswoman turned endometriosis campaigner Sanju Pal in February. The women who got in touch shared deeply personal insights into their condition, as well as medical records, photos, treatment information, and even in one case a dismissal letter. Apart from endometriosis, they all have one thing in common: they want their stories to be heard so that endometriosis can be better understood and one day, maybe even cured. "I have had fibroids and endometriosis for over five years, been passed from pillar to post around the NHS, been in debilitating pain and bleeding so much that I became severely anaemic," says Gill, from south-east London. "At points, I couldn't leave the house because the blood flow was so intense and yet I could not get an appointment on the NHS to get anything done about it. "It was ruining my life and yet not considered life-threatening." Gill says that even though she wanted the chance to have children, she has now had a full hysterectomy. "It is ob