After years of suffering the pain of endometriosis, 21-year-old Charlotte Samphire was forced to leave her job because the symptoms were too severe to manage.
Now, the beauty therapist from East Yorkshire, along with Hull charity Hey Endo!, is hoping improvements will soon be made after a government report found the condition is having a significant impact on women’s finances and careers.
“People need to know that women shouldn’t have to choose between their careers and their health,” she said.
Samphire, who has stage 4 endometriosis and has suffered years of debilitating pain since she was just 10 years old, said although her boss was understanding, she knows not everyone would be so lucky.
Endometriosis is a chronic condition in which cells that are similar to the lining of the womb grow in other parts of the body.
It can take an average of nine years to get a diagnosis from the onset of symptoms and it affects 1.5 million people in the UK.
The All-Party Parliamentary Group on Endometriosis recently published a report on the condition in the workplace, commissioned and funded by Endometriosis UK.
Kirsteen Sullivan MP, who is chairwoman of that group and also has endometriosis, said she wanted the government to introduce a national framework for women in the workplace.
“That framework should build on existing standards and the menopause action plans that were already introduced earlier this year,” she said.
“I think that will provide support and guidance for employers so that they can better understand the support they should be providing to their employees, but also allow women living with the condition to better understand the kind of support they should receive.”
She said the government should also review guidance around the Equality Act to ensure it better reflects fluctuating and chronic conditions.
