The workplace conversations women still swallow

Women are demanding safer spaces to speak at work. Women still swallow words at work that could change their days. They hide hot flushes, fear, exhaustion and pain because speaking up feels riskier than suffering in silence. Silence A woman sits through a meeting while heat floods her chest. Her blouse sticks to her skin. Her mind fogs. She does not ask for the air conditioning to drop because she knows the jokes that will follow about ‘that time of life’. Menopause, periods, fertility treatments and other health realities still count as “private struggles” in too many workplaces. Women push through symptoms because they fear colleagues will stereotype them, sideline them or judge them as less competent. That was one of the toughest conversations to surface at Empact Group’s Women’s Month event this August, where staff finally spoke openly about menopause, mental health, and gender-based violence. “Despite growing awareness, many women face significant challenges related to menstruation, menopause, and fertility that they often feel unable to disclose at work, fearing career repercussions,” reports Women of Influence Employers who want real inclusion must move beyond wellness slogans. They must ask whether uniforms breathe, whether meeting rooms can be cooler, whether managers can hear “I’m struggling” without flinching. When home violence follows you to the office For Sanele Mlambo, Group Marketing Executive at Empact Group, creating room for these discussions matters precisely because employees cannot simply switch off the realities of their lives when they arrive at work. “Women do not stop experiencing what is happening in their bodies, homes and personal lives when they walk through the workplace door,” said Mlambo. “If something is affecting a person’s health, confidence, safety or ability to work, we need to become comfortable enough to talk about it. Silence does not make those realities disappear.” Abuse also does not stop at the front door. An abusive partner can flood an employee’s phone during work hours. A woman can arrive at her desk shaken after a violent night, terrified of what waits when she leaves. Many women do not report gender-based discrimination or harassment because they fear retaliation, distrust the system, or believe nothing will change. Silence becomes a survival strategy shaped by power imbalances and institutional neglect. 44 per cent of women, according to a recent survey by Deloitte, have experienced harassment, microaggressions or both in the workplace, yet only about one-fifth of the women reported it. A workplace where people can say what is happening “Sometimes the starting point is simply having a courageous conversation,” said Mlambo. “When somebody feels they have to hide what they are experiencing in order to be considered professional, there is an opportunity for employers to listen more carefully. The conversation gives us somewhere to start. What we do with what we have heard matters next.” Workplaces that invite hard conversations give women room to breathe, ask for help, and grow. The first step is simple: make it safe to say, “I am struggling,” and then act on what you hear. Salwa Albertyn, a human resources executive, said at the gathering that an open-door policy matters, but employees also need confidence that managers will handle requests for help with sensitivity. “My door is always open to anyone in our organisation who needs support. What conversations such as these remind us, however, is that people must feel safe enough to walk through that door. “They need to know that they can speak without judgement and that what they share will be handled with care and discretion.”