The healthcare sector is still on a long journey towards fairness and inclusivity in 2025. It still has to deal with the indisputable effects of gender prejudice that disproportionately affects women. Even though structural change is crucial, empowering women to identify and address bias in their medical care is an essential first step towards treatment fairness. This booklet gives women the tools to advocate for themselves and explains how gender prejudice appears in medicine.

The Invisibility of Gender Bias

The majority of gender bias in medicine stems from systematic injustices, outmoded stereotypes, and insufficient research. For instance, women who describe discomfort or symptoms are frequently disregarded; this phenomenon is sometimes referred to as "Yentl Syndrome." According to studies, women's pain is often underrecognized and treated less than that of men, which delays diagnosis and results in subpar care.

Bias in reproductive health falls into the second group. Women with diseases like PCOS and endometriosis are either misdiagnosed or mistakenly classified as experiencing typical menstruation pains. Because studies are skewed towards men, heart disease—which kills more women than men—is largely disregarded. Consequently, men receive more medical interventions that effectively save women's lives.

Recognizing the Signs of Gender Bias

Women will be better able to identify instances of gender bias if they are aware of the following subtle and overt signs:

• Dismissive Attitudes: When medical professionals ignore or minimise symptoms, they typically attribute them to stress or anxiety.
• Stereotypical Assumptions: Instead of seeking a cause, symptoms are attributed to emotional issues.
• Lack of Representation: There is a dearth of research on diseases that mostly impact women, which results in fewer alternatives for therapy.
• Unequal Access to Treatment: Compared to men, women experience delayed treatments, fewer diagnostic tests, and less pain medication.