Women’s health: a key pathway to economic inclusion and empowerment
International Women's Day (IWD) is a global day celebrating the social, economic, cultural, and political achievements of women – while also marking a call to action for accelerating gender equity.
This year the UN Women Australia IWD theme is Count her in – Invest in Women, Accelerate Progress.
In partnership with the Medibank Gender Equity Network, Medibank hosted an event with special guest speaker, Em Rusciano on Thursday 7 March.
The day focused on bringing to life this years’ IWD message, with a particular focus on health as a key pathway to economic inclusion and empowerment.
Time with Em was peppered with laugh-out-loud moments as well as opportunities to learn from her personal journey; from misdiagnosis to proud "autistic ADHD-ER".
Em encouraged all employees to take part in discussions around gender equity and highlighted the importance of males as part of an ongoing and continuous commitment to lessening the gap.
Em offered honest insights and reflections about her childhood, finding her way as a mother as well as her passion for helping to remove the stigma around neurodiversity, touching on the importance of harnessing the neurodiversity of our employees, describing adult neurodiversity as a “superpower”.
With humour and vulnerability, Em was able to connect with our employees. Em covered her personal history of dealing with a range of women’s health issues and shared her experience of navigating the health system as a woman. She encouraged everyone in attendance to “trust your first instinct” and “back yourself in”.
Em also touched on the importance of self-care; setting boundaries, looking after yourself and always “believing that you CAN, just a little more than you CAN’T.”
The event also featured interactive stalls from Share the Dignity and Jean Hailes for Women's Health, both charities provide integral support for women's health in Australia.
Earlier this week, Medibank’s Dr Andrew Wilson also discussed the lack of awareness in women’s health and the conditions that impact women, the difference between access to healthcare for men and women and the disparity that exists in health research. You can read more about that here.
