Member's statement: Women's Health Issues
Member's statement by Ms Cara Hunter on .
- MLA
- Ms Cara Hunter
- Party at the time
- Social Democratic and Labour Party
- Date
- 14 September 2026
- Type
- Member's statement
- Business
- Members' Statements
- Heading
- Women's Health Issues
- Assembly identifier
- Official Report component 5685283
Read the official Assembly record
Text
Endometriosis, polyendocrine metabolic ovarian syndrome (PMOS), premenstrual dysphoric disorder (PMDD) and adenomyosis are ongoing women's health issues in the North that are not being treated effectively. Women's health issues are being overlooked, and women feel unseen and unheard. I held an event last week on those issues in my constituency, and what I heard was the definition of scandalous, particularly how women in the North are being treated on the issue of endometriosis. It is truly nothing short of a scandal. In years to come, we will look back at this moment in time as a dark chapter in our history, horrified by our lack of action for those women. I will share a few stories, and, by the end of that, I think that you will agree. One of the most horrifying stories that I have heard is one that is beyond belief. I spoke with a woman who waited years for surgery to alleviate her pain. She had botched surgery and now bleeds from three areas in her body during her menstrual cycle, one of which is her belly button. In the year of 2026, the complete lack of dignity for a woman in Northern Ireland with endometriosis experiencing bleeding through her clothes at work is an absolute scandal and an absolute disgrace. Another lady with whom I spoke received surgery in her trust area from a surgeon who was not trained in gynaecology surgeries. She now lives in more pain than she did in the years waiting for her surgery. Another woman who had endometriosis and who had got her period for the first time at the age of eight was later discriminated against when it came to her care. She was in a same-sex relationship and was told not to worry too much about her reproductive system because of that. She is now married to a man and struggling to conceive. While all of those are horrific experiences, I am pleased today to share those stories to really honour the experience of those women, who deserve to be heard. Another young lady, recently married like me, who works in the arts, dreams of starting a family, but, because of negligence in her trust area, she fears that that dream will never come true. She is self-employed in the arts. She said, "Who would want to hire me? I do not get any sick pay, and I fall ill regularly". Another woman said that at, the age of 15, she felt coerced into a very uncomfortable internal scan. She was told by the doctor, "If you do not get this done today, you are wasting my time, you are wasting your time and you will not know what is wrong with you". I say this passionately as a woman on the Education Committee. Another young lady who started her periods at eight is now 12 years old, and her attendance at school is just 22% because she lives in chronic agony. That is shocking stuff. It has really stuck with me over the weekend, particularly because the number of women who have said that they feel acutely suicidal because of their never-ending pain was clear. We cannot give back the years that those women have lost in their lives to endometriosis, but we can make sure that the next generation will not have to lose theirs. Let us be the generation of elected representatives who stop normalising the chronic pain of women in our communities. Women deserve to be believed, women deserve to be diagnosed and women in Northern Ireland deserve to be treated.
597 words. Text as published by the Northern Ireland Assembly.
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