There are too many women throughout Western Australia who are suffering due to a healthcare system that disregards our voices, diminishes our experiences, and ultimately fails to provide the necessary and professional care we deserve. The time for change is now.

Our current system is marked by a distressing lack of Trauma-Informed Practice. Particularly for women with a history of trauma, the absence of care that acknowledges and addresses our emotional and psychological needs is a stark failing. It is unacceptable that those in such vulnerability are left to flounder without the support they require.

Then we face the consistent Dismissal of Women's Voices. We have a right to be heard, to have our symptoms taken seriously, to have our knowledge of our own bodies respected and considered. Our health is not something to be trivialized. Yet we are trapped within a system that too often remains deaf to our pleas and experiences.

We must also highlight the prevalent issue of Gaslighting and Miscommunication. Far too many women are made to feel as though their symptoms are exaggerated or imaginary, dismissed as hysteria or overreaction. This emotional manipulation is not just distressing – it can be utterly dangerous, potentially discouraging women from seeking help in critical situations.

Additionally, prolonged wait times for urgent and traumatic health issues exacerbate suffering and lead to dangerous delays in treatment. Add to that a systemic lack of understanding and ccompassion, which leaves women feeling unsupported during critical moments in their healthcare journeys.

We are calling on the Western Australian Department of Health and the WA Minister for Health to take immediate action by:

1. Implementing mandatory trauma-informed training for all healthcare providers.

2. Prioritising listening to women’s concerns and validating their lived experiences.

3. Allocating resources to reduce wait times for urgent and traumatic health issues, and in particular women's health issues.

4. Establishing clear processes to hold healthcare providers accountable for dismissive or gaslighting behaviors.

5. Making empathy and understanding central to women’s healthcare delivery.

Every woman in Western Australia, indeed every woman anywhere, has the undeniable right to safe, respectful, and effective healthcare. We call on the WA health system to finally acknowledge and rectify these flaws, to deliver the quality of healthcare that each one of us deserves.

This is a deeply personal outcry, born of experiences too common for far too many. Now is the time for change. Please, sign this petition and join us in demanding better treatment for women in the WA health system.