Say menopause three times a day for empathy, chaps

MAlE academics have been told to say the word ‘menopause’ three times a day to show solidarity with female colleagues.

The University of leicester says its staff should speak ‘candidly and informally’ about the subject.

One scholar has even organised the monthly leicester Menopause Cafe, where male and female colleagues are encouraged to discuss the topic. Dr Andrea Davies, of the university’s School of Business, says she wants women to be able to confidently declare when they are having a hot flush.

She told the BBC: ‘We have been arguing to avoid any closeted words or acronyms and just say menopause – preferably three times a day to make it unremarkable. We set out that menopause should not be a women’s only issue.’

Dr Davies, 48, has also started a menopause roadshow at the university and says workplaces across Britain ought to be more menopause-friendly.

She is the co-author of a 2017 Department of Education report on menopause transition and economic participation. She started having menopausal symptoms aged 42, but did not recognise them at the time.

last year, the University of leicester became the first in the UK to introduce its own policy over the menopause. Similar programmes have since been adopted at the University of Manchester, Severn Trent Water and Nottinghamshire Police.