The Multicultural Centre for Women’s Health (MCWH) has published our submission to the Victorian Government Inquiry into Women's Pain. The gender pain gap is a public health crisis and a human rights issue. The pain experienced by women and gender diverse people is disproportionately under-researched, ignored or misdiagnosed. As the national voice for migrant and refugee women, this submission employs a gendered, intersectional lens to understand the experiences of migrant and refugee women and gender diverse people's experiences of pain, highlighting the internal diversity of these experiences.
The submission draws on previous research conducted by MCWH, data from our statewide bilingual health education sessions, qualitative surveys and in-depth interviews with migrant and refugee women and healthcare professionals.
This submission outlines our findings relating to:
- Migrant and refugee women and gender diverse people's experiences of pain.
- The types of pain experienced, including pain related to workplace injury, sexual and reproductive health, and mental health.
- The experiences of healthcare professionals who provide care to migrant and refugee women and gender diverse people.
Finally, the submission makes detailed recommendations in 4 key areas including:
- Addressing the structural inequalities that limit access to healthcare.
- Investing in the expansion of MCWHs services to deliver comprehensive, statewide, specialist, multicultural preventative health programs.
- Building the evidence base on migrant and refugee women and gender diverse peoples experience of pain, and,
- Supporting the healthcare workforce to build capacity to deliver safe and responsive services to migrant and refugee women.