Now, Victoria’s Inquiry into Women’s Pain, the first of its kind in Australia, has made it official. The pain gap is real, and it’s costing women their health, livelihoods, and sense of trust in the system.
More than 13,000 women, girls and gender diverse people shared their experiences of living with pain. What emerged was both deeply personal and profoundly systemic.
The invisible weight of pain
Ninety percent of respondents said they had experienced pain that lasted more than a year, with 54% experiencing it daily and 31% experiencing it constantly.
Conditions like endometriosis, fibromyalgia, migraines and musculoskeletal disorders were common, but the real through-line was exhaustion; physical, emotional, and financial.
Pain didn’t stay in one place. It spilled into work, relationships, hobbies, and mental health. Eighty-nine per cent said pain affected their psychological wellbeing. Fifty-nine per cent of respondents reported that pain affected their lifestyle and hobbies, 52% their intimate relationships, and 44% their work, studies, or volunteering. Many described fatigue, anxiety, and a constant sense of being on edge. Some compared it to living “in a bubble of hell.” And while the symptoms varied, the impact was universal: life, in one way or another, had become smaller.
It’s all in your head
The most frequent story shared was one of dismissal. Seventy-one per cent of women said they were ignored or minimised by healthcare professionals. Many were told their pain was “normal,” “hormonal,” or “psychosomatic.” For others, the message was subtler but just as damaging; a raised eyebrow, a rushed appointment, an unspoken doubt.
This pattern doesn’t exist in a vacuum. Medicine, as the report notes, was built largely on male biology. The result being diagnostic tools, treatment guidelines, and research that don’t reflect women’s realities. It’s why women wait longer for diagnoses, receive less pain relief than men in emergency departments, and are more likely to be prescribed antidepressants instead of investigations.
The cost of being believed
Even when women did find care that helped, it came at a price. Sixty-eight per cent said the cost of treatment was a barrier, with many spending thousands on specialists, surgeries, and therapies that weren’t covered by Medicare. Those in rural areas faced additional travel and time off work, while carers described the strain of supporting loved ones through years of uncertainty.
The report captures stories of people who emptied savings, paused careers, or were met with care that centred reproduction over relief. For some, the financial and emotional toll was so severe it shaped every decision that followed.
Silence is the real problem
What makes this report powerful isn’t just the data. It’s the conversations it has started. They reveal that women’s pain is not rare or exaggerated, it’s under-researched, under-treated, and under-believed.
It shows how cultural biases around gender, weight, race, sexuality and disability compound into neglect. It shows that pain is not just a medical issue but a social one, influencing how women work, parent, rest, and participate in community life.
Most of all, it shows how change begins when people are finally asked to speak openly, and have the opportunity to be heard.
What have we learnt?
The Inquiry distilled thousands of individual stories into five clear truths about the experience of women’s pain, and the systemic failures that perpetuate it.
1. Unmet healthcare needs
Most women who sought medical help for their pain didn’t get the support they needed. Dismissal and inadequate treatment are common, eroding confidence and trust in healthcare itself.
2. Gaps in research and representation
The lack of sex and gender-specific research continues to undermine pain management. When the data doesn’t reflect women’s realities, the diagnosis rarely does either.
3. Gender bias in healthcare
Bias still shapes how pain is perceived, prioritised, and treated. Cultural norms, stereotypes and language barriers mean women’s pain is more likely to be minimised or mistaken for something emotional instead of physical.
4. Barriers across communities
Not all women face the same challenges, but many face more than one. Women in regional and rural Victoria, Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander women, LGBTIQA+ communities and women with disabilities encounter added layers of distance, cost, and discrimination when trying to access care.
5. A call for change
Above all, women want to be heard without bias or judgment. Pain is multifaceted and experienced by girls and women in many ways. Interventions are required on physical, psychological, and social levels to make a lasting difference for Victorian girls and women.
A collective turning point
The Inquiry signals more than awareness. It signals accountability, and the start of a new conversation that moves beyond surviving pain to understanding it. It’s a historic shift in Australian healthcare. For the first time, women’s pain has been recognised not as anecdotes, but as data: measurable, undeniable, and impossible to ignore. It reframes pain as a public health issue, not a personal burden, and demands that research, policy and clinical practice finally catch up.
At Astrid, we see this as a call to rebuild the system from the inside out. One rooted in representation, credible science, and care that treats women as the experts of their own bodies. Listening is the beginning. Belief, action, and structural change must follow.
