Follow our event programme here → endovclinix.com/shipley

Exhibition opening — 21 March, 6pm · Fourth Idea, Shipley · Drop In 1 — 22 March, 2–6pm · Drop-ins, events & workshops — check our programme page Follow @fourthideastudios & @hy_stera

A note before you begin. This event and page were created by a neurodivergent, disabled person with endometriosis and severe adenomyosis — with help from AI. Despite our best efforts and real intentions, there may be mistakes, broken links, or things we got wrong. Please handle with care and compassion.

Full programme & events → endovclinix.com/shipley

Endo
Violence
Clinix

Endo Violence Clinix is an art exhibition, a workshop space, and a community meet-up. We want to share, exchange, and map the local and online resources that might help with the different dimensions of endometriosis and endo violence — practical, emotional, medical, digital, financial, and everything in between. Informed by the history of feminist health activism in the UK, DIY culture, the Well Women Centre movement, and more recent digital activisms, we're trying to create a space to think together about what endo violence free futures might look like. Guided by healing justice principles — not about blaming a specific person or organisation, but about understanding how different systems operate and what becomes possible when communities come together. This space is open to anyone.

We invite all of you to pop in during our opening hours to contribute to our resource mapping. Scroll to the bottom of this page to learn more about what we mean by resource mapping.

Fourth Idea · Shipley BD17 7DA
Hystera / Alicja Pawluczuk & Endo Violence Community
Endo Violence Clinix exhibition poster
Endo Violence Clinix · IDEA · Endo Violence Collective · University of Leeds · Hystera · Alicja Pawluczuk · INCLUDE+ Network
Important

Endo Violence Clinix is a feminist health, art, and activism project. We do not provide medical care.

Building on the work and learning of feminist health spaces from the 1980s, we’re trying to make sense of the systems that shape our care and to see endo lives as whole — not reducible to a collection of symptoms.

A note on the word “violence.” We use it deliberately — but not to be dramatic, and not to point fingers at individuals. Words like “inconvenience” or “shortfall” do not capture what years of being dismissed, disbelieved, and under-treated actually do to a person. We are naming structures and systems, not blaming clinicians or attacking anyone. This is an informed, non-violent, and care-centred use of a serious word, grounded in feminist and disability justice frameworks.

The framework

What is endo violence?

Endometriosis affects around 1 in 10 people with a uterus. It takes, on average, nearly nine years to diagnose. 47% of people with the condition visited their GP ten or more times before receiving a diagnosis. This is not bad luck or individual misfortune. It is the result of systemic neglect, underfunding, and gendered dismissal. That’s what we’re here to name.

The endo violence framework was developed collectively — with and by people living with endometriosis — to make visible the multiple forms of harm that surround a diagnosis. Medical, epistemic, relational, digital, environmental, economic, structural. These forms of violence are not separate; they compound each other.

Endo Violence Clinix brings this framework into physical space — as an art exhibition, an artivism space, and a site of collective action. The artists and activists involved use art as method: not decoration, but a way of making visible what institutions refuse to acknowledge. Come to see the work. Come to make something. Come to think together about what resistance looks like.

Endo violence is about healing justice: not pointing fingers at individuals, but looking at how different forms of harm join up — and what we might do together about it.

Further reading

Co-defining Endometriosis-Related Injustices: A Participatory Research Approach → Virtual endo care as innovation → Endo violence and digital invisibility: the censorship of endometriosis narratives online →

Key facts

~9 yrs
Average diagnostic delay in the UK (Endometriosis UK, 2024)
47%
visited their GP 10+ times before a diagnosis
1 in 10
people with a uterus are affected (WHO)
The typology

Types of endo violence

Type 1

Medical violence

Dismissal by clinicians, denial of referrals, inadequate pain management, normalisation of symptoms, unnecessary delays in diagnosis. The harm that happens — or doesn’t happen — inside the clinical encounter.

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Type 2

Epistemic violence

The systematic discrediting of women’s knowledge about their own bodies. Being told it’s “just periods”. Medical education that excludes or minimises endometriosis. Research that doesn’t listen to patients.

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Type 3

Relational violence

Disbelief and minimisation from family, partners, friends, and employers. The exhaustion of having to justify your pain to everyone in your life — repeatedly, often with no result.

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Type 4

Digital violence

Platform algorithms that suppress health content. Social media bans on images related to menstruation. Surveillance of health data. The ways digital systems replicate and amplify offline medical biases.

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Type 5

Environmental violence

Endometriosis linked to endocrine-disrupting chemicals in plastics, pesticides, and air pollution. The structural conditions — in housing, work, food systems — that shape who gets sick and who gets care.

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Type 6

Economic violence

The financial cost of endometriosis — in treatments, lost work, private care, products. The ways the condition pushes people out of employment, into poverty, into debt, without adequate support.

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Type 7

Structural violence

NHS underfunding of women’s health. Policy that promises without delivering. Research budgets that don’t reflect prevalence. The systemic inequalities that shape who waits longest and who gets the least.

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Type 8

Reproductive violence

Endometriosis’s impact on fertility, pregnancy, and bodily autonomy. The ways reproductive choices are constrained, dismissed, or made without adequate information or consent.

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Who this is for

For everyone

Endo violence is a collective issue — or that’s the argument this space is making. It lives in systems, not just in individual bodies. Which means thinking about it, and maybe doing something about it, requires different kinds of people in the same room.

People with endo

This space is built with you and for you. You don’t need to be diagnosed. You don’t need to have the “right” symptoms. You’re welcome here exactly as you are, in whatever state you’re in.

  • Community mapping together
  • Resources you can actually use
  • People who believe you

Medical staff & healthcare workers

We know how hard you work. We know the pressures you’re under — understaffing, underfunding, impossible caseloads, a system that fails you as much as it fails patients. This space is not here to blame you. It’s here because we need you in this conversation. The endo violence framework only makes sense if the people with power to change care are part of building what comes next.

  • What patients experience that appointments don’t capture
  • Systemic pressures that shape diagnosis and care
  • What “good” could look like — together

Allies & loved ones

Partners, family members, friends who want to understand. Endo violence affects relationships — and understanding the framework can help you show up better for the people you care about.

  • Understanding what endo violence means
  • How to be a genuine ally
  • Not making it about you

Policymakers & funders

If you have power to change systems, this space is making the case for why you should. The evidence is here. The framework is here. The community is here. What’s missing is political will.

  • What the evidence actually says
  • What communities are asking for
  • What accountability looks like
At the clinix

Activities

Open to all

Zine & art making

Make something. Draw, collage, write. Art-making as a way of processing experience that systems refuse to acknowledge. Materials provided.

Collective activity

Community mapping

Adding to a shared map of needs, resources, gaps, and what we wish existed. This is the core activity of the drop-ins — building something together that doesn’t exist yet.

Shared knowledge

Resource mapping

What’s available where you are? What’s missing? Sharing what we know — about services, rights, workarounds, and everything the system doesn’t tell you.

Community

Endo support hang out

Just being in a room with people who understand. No agenda. Tea, warmth, and the simple relief of not having to explain yourself.

Exhibition

Exhibition

Artwork exploring endo violence, embodied experience, and resistance. Open throughout the clinix — browse at your own pace, stay as long as you need.

Publication

Endo Violence Magazyn

Browse the Endo Violence Magazyn at the clinix. A community publication exploring the framework through personal and collective voices.

Where we come from

Feminist health lineage

Endo Violence Clinix doesn’t emerge from nowhere. It sits in a longer tradition of feminist health activism in the UK — one that has repeatedly built spaces of care, watched them get defunded or absorbed, and tried again. Knowing that history feels important.

1970s

The body as political ground

The Women’s Liberation Movement put women’s health at the centre of feminist politics. Consciousness-raising groups shared testimony about rushed GP appointments, dismissive male doctors, and bodies treated as collections of problems rather than whole lives. Women bought speculums from feminist bookshops and ran self-examination sessions. In 1978, the UK edition of Our Bodies, Ourselves was published — a landmark text that challenged the idea that health knowledge belonged to doctors.

This wasn’t alternative medicine. It was a political argument: that women’s experiential knowledge of their own bodies was valid, and that healthcare systems structured around medical authority were failing them.

1980s

Well Women Clinics: bringing it inside

Feminist activists shifted strategy. Rather than operating outside the NHS, they pushed to transform it from within. Well Women Clinics emerged across the UK — in Liverpool, Glasgow, Bristol, London, Leeds — offering open-access, women-centred care: longer appointments, female staff, integrated services, and spaces where women could discuss health concerns without judgment.

They demonstrated, powerfully, that there was unmet need everywhere they opened: almost half of women attending Liverpool’s clinics had a vaginal problem or infection; 40% were anxious or depressed.

1990s–2000s

The long erosion

Most of them closed. Not through a single decision, but through the slow attrition of NHS reorganisation, commissioning fragmentation, and austerity. Services without ring-fenced budgets were absorbed into generic provision or quietly defunded. The feminist philosophy that had animated them was replaced with outcomes-based metrics that couldn’t capture what the clinics were actually doing.

The pattern was consistent across every case: establishment during a window of political sympathy, demonstration of genuine unmet need, institutional resistance to the feminist model, then disappearance — not formally shut down, but allowed to wither.

2000s–2020s

Endometriosis activism rises

As Well Women Clinics disappeared, a new form of advocacy emerged — focused, for the first time, on endometriosis specifically. The APPG documented a 7.5-year average diagnostic delay and gathered testimony from women who had visited their GP ten or more times before receiving a diagnosis.

Research confirmed what patients already knew. By 2025, the mean diagnostic delay had risen to nine years — and systemic causes were clear: normalisation of symptoms by clinicians and patients alike, lack of GP training, and fragmented referral pathways.

Right now

What is happening now — and what is missing

The promises

The 2022 Women’s Health Strategy for England — following a public consultation of over 110,000 responses — promised improved diagnostic pathways, Women’s Health Hubs, and a more serious reckoning with the gender health gap. Early pilot hubs have shown what might be possible: one Oxfordshire hub managed 75% of menopause referrals in-house.

Social media has created 21st-century consciousness-raising spaces. Instagram, TikTok, and community Facebook groups function as spaces where people share diagnosis stories, challenge the normalisation of their pain, and build collective testimony that carries political weight.

110,000+
responses to the 2022 Women’s Health Strategy consultation — the largest ever for a government health policy
47%
of people with endometriosis visited their GP 10 or more times before receiving a diagnosis (Endometriosis UK, 2024)

The gaps

The Women’s Health Strategy has no ring-fenced funding. The Women’s Health Hubs are being piloted in some areas and not others, with no guarantee of sustained rollout. A 2024 BMJ editorial called for restructuring endometriosis care and noted the system remains fragmented. The diagnosis delay — now almost 9 years on average — has not improved. It has got worse.

Digital activism can raise awareness, build solidarity, and pressure institutions — but it cannot provide a clinical encounter, a referral, or a diagnosis. Platform algorithms suppress health content. Online harassment targets feminist voices. And the emotional labour of sustained digital advocacy produces burnout in communities already living with chronic illness.

The history of Well Women Clinics is a pointed reminder that good models of women’s health care have existed in the UK for decades. The failure has not been in imagining them — it has been in protecting and scaling them.

Follow the Endo Violence Clinix events programme → endovclinix.com/shipley

A short history

Feminist health activism in the UK: key moments

1973
Self-help gynaecology groups emerge; women run self-examination sessions outside the medical system. Our Bodies, Ourselves UK edition follows in 1978.
1979
Thatcher government begins NHS cuts. Community services defined as “non-essential” and removed. Socialist feminists mobilise in defence of the NHS.
1980s
Well Women Clinics established across the UK — Liverpool, Glasgow, Bristol, Lewisham, Calderdale. Open-access, women-centred, staffed entirely by women. Evidence of massive unmet need everywhere they open.
Late 1980s
The Endometriosis Society (later SHE Trust) founded — the first patient-led UK charity for endometriosis. By 1994, organising International Endometriosis Awareness Week.
1990s
NHS reorganisations begin defunding Well Women Clinics. Most close or lose their feminist character. The Glasgow Ballantay project’s social model is gradually institutionalised into something conventional.
2014
All-Party Parliamentary Group on Endometriosis established. Documents 7.5-year average diagnostic delay. Testimony gathered from women who visited their GP ten or more times without a diagnosis.
2019
RCOG’s Better for Women report calls for “one stop women’s health clinics” — effectively recommending the reinvention of Well Women Clinics, 30 years after they closed.
2022
Women’s Health Strategy for England published. 110,000+ consultation responses. Promises Women’s Health Hubs and improved gynaecology pathways. No ring-fenced funding allocated.
Now
Diagnostic delay still nearly 9 years. 47% of patients visit their GP ten or more times before diagnosis. Hubs rolling out unevenly. Endo Violence Clinix opens in Shipley — asking what this history means for what we build next.
Interactive tool

Endo violence resource map

This is a community mapping tool — not a definitive directory. Use it to explore the kinds of support that exist (or should exist) across different types of endo violence. Add what you know. Notice what’s missing.

Community🤝

Endo support groups

Local and online peer support groups where people with endometriosis share experiences, advice, and solidarity. Often the first place a diagnosis makes sense.

freepeer supportongoing
Ask about: local NHS patient groups, Endometriosis UK local groups, condition-specific Facebook communities
Medical🫵

Recognising medical gaslighting

Being told your pain is normal, psychosomatic, or exaggerated is not just frustrating — it’s a recognised pattern with a name. Knowing what gaslighting looks like in a clinical context can help you advocate for yourself.

diagnosisself-advocacysecond opinion
Ask about: right to a second opinion, keeping a symptom diary, requesting written explanations from your GP, PALS complaints support
Community💬

When people question how sick you are

Relational violence — in families, friendships, workplaces — is one of the least-named forms of endo violence. “But you don’t look ill.” “Everyone gets cramps.” This kind of doubt, even when well-meaning, compounds the harm of being disbelieved in healthcare settings.

relational violenceinvisible illnessrelationships
Ask about: peer support communities, chronic illness therapists, scripts for explaining endo to loved ones
Legal & rights⚖️

Patient legal support & advocacy

Guidance on your rights as a patient — including the right to a second opinion, the right to request medical records, and options if you’ve experienced clinical negligence.

rightsNHS complaintsnegligence
Ask about: PALS (Patient Advice and Liaison Service), clinical negligence solicitors, NHS complaints process
Financial💷

Disability benefits advice

Endometriosis can qualify as a disability under the Equality Act. Benefits including PIP, ESA, and Universal Credit may be available — but the application process is exhausting and often hostile.

PIPESAUniversal Credit
Ask about: Citizens Advice, disability benefits helplines, benefits calculators, welfare rights advisors
Work & access🏢

Workplace accommodations

You have the right to request reasonable adjustments at work. This includes flexible hours, working from home, rest breaks, or modified duties during flares — without having to justify your pain repeatedly.

reasonable adjustmentsflexible workingEquality Act
Ask about: HR departments, occupational health referrals, trade union reps, ACAS guidance
Work & access♿

Access to Work scheme

A government grant scheme that funds support in the workplace for people with health conditions or disabilities — significantly under-used by people with chronic conditions.

government grantequipmenttravel
Ask about: GOV.UK Access to Work, application process, what counts as eligible support
Body & pain🫁

Chronic pain & physio support

Pelvic floor physiotherapy, pain management clinics, and chronic pain psychology are all relevant to endometriosis — but often hard to access, long waits, or not offered at all.

pelvic physiopain clinicNHS referral
Ask about: NHS pain management clinics, pelvic health physiotherapy referral, IAPT for chronic illness
Practical🪹

Free & affordable period products

Period poverty is a real dimension of endo violence — especially when managing a condition that requires higher-absorbency or more frequent product changes.

period povertyfree productscommunity access
Ask about: local council period dignity schemes, food banks, community libraries, school nurses
Community📖

Libraries & knowledge spaces

Public libraries as access points — for printing forms, using computers to navigate benefit applications, accessing health information, and community meeting space.

freeinformationcommunity space
Ask about: your local library’s health resources, computer access, community rooms for group meetings
Medical🏥

BSGE specialist centre referral

In the UK, complex or severe endometriosis should be treated at a BSGE-accredited centre. You have the right to request referral — but many GPs don’t offer it. Knowing it exists is the first step.

specialist surgeryNHS referralBSGE
Ask about: BSGE centre locator, asking your GP or gynaecologist for a tertiary referral
Legal & rights📋

Equality Act protections at work

Endometriosis may qualify as a disability under the Equality Act 2010 if it has a substantial and long-term effect on daily life. This creates legal obligations for employers.

Equality Actdisabilityemployer duties
Ask about: Equality Advisory Support Service (EASS), trade union legal advice, employment tribunal support
Body & pain🧠

Mental health & trauma support

Medical trauma, chronic pain, and years of being disbelieved take a real psychological toll. Therapy and peer support specifically for people with chronic illness exists — though it takes work to find.

therapymedical traumachronic illness
Ask about: IAPT referral for long-term conditions, endometriosis-specialist therapists, peer support groups
Financial🎗️

Mutual aid & emergency support

Hardship funds, charitable grants, and mutual aid within endo communities. Also crowdfunding for surgeries or treatments not available on the NHS.

mutual aidhardship fundscrowdfunding
Ask about: local mutual aid groups, endo-specific charity grants, GoFundMe, Just Giving

What might you need? What might we offer each other?

This is a starting point — an example of how we might map needs and support together. In the clinix, we want to build this with you, not show you a finished version. Click any card to explore.

This is an example only. What’s missing? What would you add?

Click any card above to find out more about that kind of support.
At the centre

Living with endo

At the centre is you — navigating a condition that most systems weren’t built to support. Everything in this web is about what you might need, and what we might offer each other.

Medical

Medical support

Specialist referrals, pain management, getting a diagnosis, navigating the NHS.

  • Second opinion requests
  • BSGE specialist referral
  • Pain management clinics
  • Pelvic physio referral
Community

Being believed

By family, friends, partners, employers, doctors. The need to have your pain taken seriously — not explained away, minimised, or made your fault.

  • Peer support communities
  • Relational endo violence resources
  • Scripts for talking to loved ones
  • Chronic illness therapy
Financial

Financial support

Endo costs money — in treatments, time off work, travel, products. Support exists but is hard to find and often exhausting to access.

  • PIP / disability benefits
  • Access to Work grant
  • Hardship funds & mutual aid
  • Help with benefit applications
Work & access

Work & access

Your workplace has legal obligations. You have rights — to adjustments, to flexibility, to not having to explain your pain every week.

  • Reasonable adjustments
  • Flexible working requests
  • Access to Work scheme
  • Equality Act protections
Practical

Practical needs

The everyday things that make managing endo harder or easier — products, information, space to rest, somewhere safe to go.

  • Free period products
  • Library & community spaces
  • Transport and accessibility
  • Hot water bottles (we have some)
Body & pain

Emotional care

Years of being dismissed take a toll. Medical trauma, grief about diagnosis, exhaustion from advocating — these are real and they deserve real support.

  • Therapy for chronic illness
  • Medical trauma support
  • Endo peer communities
  • Rest — actual rest
Community

Collective action

Sharing what we know. Naming what’s missing. Showing up for each other. This is what the clinix is trying to be a space for.

  • Community mapping together
  • Sharing resources & knowledge
  • Political advocacy
  • Art-making as resistance
Knowledge

Information & knowledge

Knowing what you’re entitled to. Understanding the framework. Finding the right words.

What’s missing near you?

This map is incomplete by design — it reflects the gaps in provision as much as what exists. During the drop-in, you’re invited to add to it: post-it notes, conversations, resource sheets. What do you know that others don’t? What have you needed that wasn’t there?

Come when
you can.

You don’t need a diagnosis to be here. You don’t need to know the framework. You just need to care — about bodies, about systems, about justice.

Full programme & events → Visit endoviolence.com Read the endo violence book Endo violence community activities