Bodyform / Libresse: Pain Dictionary Museum, 2

Essity, creator of Libresse, Bodyform, Nana, Nuvenia, Nosotras and Saba, launches its latest taboo busting activation, #painstories, exploring the true extent of the pain women endure and inviting them to share their stories. #Painstories has been created to tackle the gender pain gap one story at a time and offer a new way to express and articulate pain, with a focus on endometriosis, via a newly launched Pain Dictionary. The launch will also see the world’s first Pain Museum created to educate and engage society on the extent to which this pain is overlooked, underfunded and often ignored. It shows how working together we can help close the gender pain gap once and for all. The experience of pain for women is complex, complicated and desperately underacknowledged. Endometriosis is just one example of the agony being endured. It affects one in 10 women but, astonishingly, takes an average of seven and a half years to be diagnosed* due to the perceived notion that severe period pain is ‘normal.’ Enduring this pain has a profound impact on every area of sufferers lives with some people experiencing depression, loss of relationships and in some cases even considering suicide. This is also reflected in their work with research finding that over 40% of those with endometriosis had given up or lost their job because of it**. As part of its brand DNA, Libresse is committed to challenging harmful taboos surrounding women’s intimate health through its change-driving initiative Project V. Project V is committed to listening to people, accurately representing their experiences and supporting them in meaningful ways until taboos have been challenged, understood and removed from society. #Painstories is one of the change-driving initiatives the brand embraces, and it started when Libresse found out that 51% of women and 52% of men think period pain is something women should endure***. This insight proves just how deeply embedded in society this taboo is. In order to better support those living with intimate pain, Libresse has initiated The Pain Dictionary. This ongoing project uses real descriptions of pain from those with endometriosis, from which Libresse has created pain words and definitions. The dictionary will bring these experiences of pain to life using descriptions and illustrations, to show the variety and intensity of endometrial pain. Healthcare professionals often ask: “Describe your pain on a scale of 1-10?” But pain is complex and unique and often can’t be reduced to a number. Descriptions in the dictionary include depictions of pain such as: “tightening barbed wire” and “a womb full of nails and daggers.” The Pain Dictionary gives sufferers a new language to express their pain to doctors, empowers people to recognise severe pain as a problem and to seek help, as well as raising awareness for endometriosis.