World Hemophilia Day 2025 : Not Just A Bruise, Because ‘Women And Girls Bleed Too’

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Lavanya worked at a noisy, never-sleeping call centre on the edge of the city. The kind of job where you measured your day in complaint calls and timed breaks, where your headset felt like a permanent part of your face. Most evenings, she went home with a dull ache running through her legs, a cramp that settled deep in her abdomen, and bruises that seemed to appear out of nowhere - dark purple, sometimes blue, like quiet secrets on her skin.

She had long accepted this fatigue, the heavy periods, the constant iron supplements. It had always been explained away. "Anemia," the doctors had said. "Just stress," her colleagues told her. "Maybe PCOD?" one gynaecologist suggested offhandedly while glancing at his phone. Her parents didn't question any of it either. Her mother would simply sigh and say, "It's just our blood, beta. You have to be strong." And so she was. Strong, quiet, and exhausted.

But everything changed after a routine dental surgery. It turned into a night in the emergency room. The bleeding wouldn't stop. Gauze after gauze was packed into her mouth until she could barely breathe from the pressure. She felt the blood pooling even as she sat upright. By the time she was admitted, she was pale, dizzy, and confused.

A young doctor in the hospital looked at her reports with a furrowed brow. After some hurried tests and a consultation with a haematologist, the verdict came, she had mild hemophilia. A bleeding disorder.

She blinked. That couldn't be right, hemophilia was for boys - rare, inherited, something out of biology textbooks. Not for women who bled quietly every month, for women like her who'd never been taken seriously. She didn't cry right away. But the stillness that followed the diagnosis felt like grief.

In the sterile silence of the ward, scrolling mindlessly on her phone, she came across a Facebook group: Women with Bleeding Disorders - India. She joined on impulse. What she found there was like discovering another language she already knew. Posts from women who'd bled for weeks, been told they were imagining things, who'd been laughed out of clinics and advised yoga. They talked about things she'd never dared voice - the shame, the anger, the loneliness. For the first time in her life, Lavanya felt like she wasn't weak or crazy. She was simply unheard.

That night, when she got home, she opened a new Instagram account - @NotJustABruise. She began small: a picture of a bandaid on her wrist, a caption about how bruises aren't always about clumsiness. She started designing reels on her cracked phone screen, explaining what clotting factors were, how mild hemophilia in women was real, how heavy periods could be more than "just periods."

Her voice was soft, her videos unpolished. But they were honest.

It didn't take long before her page found people - women who commented, messaged, shared their own stories. Mothers worried about their daughters. Girls asking what tests to request. NGO workers, journalists, even a couple of young doctors reached out. She was invited to speak at a local women's health forum in Pune. Standing on a small wooden platform in a school auditorium, Lavanya held her cue cards with trembling hands and spoke about growing up believing her pain was imaginary. She saw heads nodding in the audience. She left with a stack of new stories.

But with visibility came resistance. Anonymous messages began trickling in. Men, mostly - mocking, dismissive, sometimes outright cruel. "So now you're crying over periods?" one comment read. "Maybe get some exercise." Others accused her of spreading misinformation, of dramatising "normal" female problems. Her cousin even texted her privately, asking her to tone it down. "You're making our family look dramatic," she said.

Lavanya almost quit. She had one foot hovering over the "delete account" button on a particularly rough night. But then she saw a message from a girl in Bihar. "Didi, I showed your video to my doctor. He finally listened. I have hemophilia too. Thank you."

That was the moment something settled inside her. Not peace, not victory - just purpose.

That night, she posted a new reel. It was simple - a photo collage of ten women from the support group, arms marked with fading bruises, all of them smiling. The caption read:

"We are not fragile. We are not imagining it. We are not alone. #NotJustABruise"

What Is Hemophilia?

Hemophilia is a genetic disorder that impairs the body's ability to form blood clots, a critical process needed to stop bleeding. People with hemophilia lack sufficient levels of clotting factors-special proteins in the blood-which results in prolonged or uncontrolled bleeding, even from minor injuries.

For years, Lavanya lived with unexplained symptoms: easy bruising, persistent fatigue, and heavy menstrual bleeding. Like many women, she was told it was just stress, anemia, or PCOD. It wasn't until a routine dental procedure led to severe bleeding that she was hospitalized and, finally, diagnosed with mild hemophilia.

Types Of Hemophilia

There are two primary forms of hemophilia.

Hemophilia A: Caused by a deficiency in clotting factor VIII.

Hemophilia B: Caused by a deficiency in clotting factor IX.

Both types can present in varying degrees of severity-mild, moderate, or severe. Individuals with mild forms may go undiagnosed for years, as was the case with Lavanya, whose symptoms were consistently minimized until they escalated.

Symptoms And Everyday Challenges

The signs of hemophilia may differ based on its severity but often include:

• Frequent or large bruises
• Prolonged bleeding from cuts, dental work, or surgery
• Heavy or extended menstrual bleeding
• Pain, swelling, or tightness in joints due to internal bleeding
• Persistent fatigue or unexplained anemia

Lavanya's daily life was shaped by these challenges. She often worked through fatigue at her demanding call center job and normalized her heavy periods. Like many women, she learned early to endure discomfort and downplay her pain, which only delayed her diagnosis.

Causes And Inheritance Pattern

Hemophilia is inherited in an X-linked recessive pattern. Since males have one X chromosome, they are more likely to develop the condition if they inherit the faulty gene. Females have two X chromosomes, so even if one carries the faulty gene, the other can often compensate making them "carriers." However, many carriers experience symptoms themselves, sometimes severely.

Lavanya had no known family history of hemophilia, highlighting another reality: one-third of all cases arise from spontaneous mutations, making it even harder to identify early in women, who are rarely suspected to have the disorder in the first place.

Diagnosis And Treatment

Diagnosis begins with blood tests to check levels of clotting factors and may include genetic testing to confirm mutations. For women, diagnosis can be particularly complex, as symptoms often overlap with common conditions like PCOS or iron-deficiency anemia.

Treatment includes:

• Clotting factor replacement therapy (either on demand or preventively)
• Hormonal therapy to manage menstrual bleeding
• Pain management and physiotherapy to prevent joint damage
• Education and awareness, especially in patients with milder forms

After her diagnosis, Lavanya finally understood the root of her health issues. Her life changed when she discovered an online support group for women with bleeding disorders. These weren't isolated stories, they mirrored her own. What began as personal healing turned into public action. She started a social media campaign called "Not Just a Bruise." Her reels demystified symptoms, and her interviews with other women brought hidden narratives into the open. NGOs reached out. She spoke at health forums. Her voice carried.

Why World Hemophilia Day Matters

World Hemophilia Day, observed every year on April 17, is a global call for visibility, understanding, and justice. Initiated by the World Federation of Hemophilia to honor its founder Frank Schnabel, the day sheds light on the progress made and the gaps that still exist.

This year 2025 theme, "Access for All: Women and Girls Bleed Too," brings long-overdue attention to women like Lavanya-those whose symptoms have been normalized, their pain misunderstood, and their diagnoses delayed. It urges healthcare systems to move beyond outdated gender assumptions and ensure equal access to care, diagnosis, and support for all.

Lavanya's story is a reflection of thousands of unheard voices. World Hemophilia Day makes space for those voices to be heard not just once a year, but every single day that women live, bleed, and deserve better.

Disclaimer: The information provided in this article is for general informational and educational purposes only and is not intended as a substitute for professional medical advice, diagnosis, or treatment. Always seek the advice of your physician or a qualified healthcare provider with any questions you may have regarding a medical condition.