Neelam defies online threats
A WOMEN’S campaigner who has been threatened and ‘trolled’ online for speaking out about sex and health issues has been praised by the Prime Minister.
Huddersfield-born Neelam Heera founded the charity Cysters in 2015 to give women from Asian backgrounds the confidence to discuss gynaecological health issues.
Neelam, 29, has received a Points of Light Award from Theresa May for work tackling what some see as ‘taboo’ subjects.
Mrs May said: “Your work founding Cysters is giving women from Asian backgrounds a safe space to discuss their experiences of struggling with gynaecological health issues.
“You should feel tremendously proud of breaking down cultural taboos to ensure women can access emotional support and vital medical treatment.”
Neelam, a former pupil at Rastrick High School who now works as a lawyer, said she was ‘truly humbled’ to be given the award.
She added: “To be a recipient of a Points of Light Award is an honour, for which I am truly humbled and would like to thank the Prime Minister for the recognition.
“I founded Cysters in 2015 to combat some of the misconceptions around women’s reproductive health, which can often be trivialised by health care professionals and sexualised by the black and minority ethnic community due to cultural beliefs.
“What started as a social media campaign to vent these frustrations, grew into a support group for individuals with similar stories to a registered charity working directly with the community and giving a platform for younger women to become their own health advocates through our youth board.”
As someone who has suffered from polycystic ovary syndrome and endometriosis from the age of 18, Neelam realised that talking about gynaecological health issues can still be a taboo in Asian and black and minority ethnic communities.
She decided to tackle this and start conversations with marginalised communities, so others could make informed decisions about their reproductive health.
Cysters has been working to remove cultural barriers with a series of campaigns including the Cysters Smear campaign which dispels myths about cervical screenings.
Neela, who now lives in Birmingham but still works with women in Huddersfield, said her campaigning hadn’t been welcomed by everybody.
She explained: “The work of Cysters has been met with resistance purely due to cultural misogyny around women’s health generally.
“Members of ethnic and BAME (black and minority ethnic) communities have traditionally felt women’s reproductive health is based on fertility and nothing more.
“Anything else is heavily sexualised and women are often blamed for medical conditions they may have.
“I often receive threats and trolling as there are people who believe that issues around reproductive health, including talking about sex and intimacy in the context of health issues is seen as promiscuous and not for a woman to speak about.
“The concept of virginity is still seen as a large part of the conversation with women’s pride (izzat as it is known in Punjabi) being attached to their virginity.
“Virginity has become a commodity. Virginity can be questioned by members of the community if there is a health complaint such as polycystic ovary syndrome or endometriosis despite these conditions having nothing to do with virginity.
“It can lead to women keeping these symptoms to themselves in fear of being ostracised from the community and the problem getting worse.
“In order to change the narrative around this Cysters works directly with these affected communities.”
Cysters also offers emotional support and has an active online group which is managed by Neelam herself.
Neelam added: “I sincerely hope that our work educating women and the community about reproductive and mental health will help them make informed choices around their treatment options and health care, as well as providing a platform for women to be heard.”
For more information go to www.cysters.org