Emily Ryalls’ Divine Archives explores women’s collective and individual experiences with pain |
Pain is not experienced equally. Nor is it believed equally.
Research consistently shows that chronic pain conditions disproportionately affect women and people assigned female at birth. Yet the ways pain is recognised, recorded and treated within healthcare systems puts women at a disadvantage. Research repeatedly demonstrates that women and girls face greater barriers to diagnosis and treatment, with practitioner scepticism contributing to unequal access to care.
A 2024 study by researchers at King’s College London found that women were not only less likely than men to be prescribed pain relief, but also less likely to have their pain scores formally recorded. The authors suggest this disparity is driven by enduring biases around gender and pain intensity, including assumptions that women may “over-report” their symptoms. Similarly, a 2024 parliamentary report by the Women and........