Woman's Hour

Mina Smallman, the mother of the murdered sisters Bibaa Henry and Nicole Smallman is one of the key women who called for Dame Cressida Dick to resign from her position as Metropolitan Commissioner. As negotiations continue on when Dame Cressida will leave, we get Mina’s reaction.Do we need a family planning one as well? Lawyer Natalie Sutherland has become one of Britain’s first fertility officers and Becky Kearns is co-founder of ‘Fertility Matters at Work.’ They talk to us about why more companies should consider appointing one.During lockdown, full-time carer and former history teacher, Joanna Williams sat down at her kitchen table and wrote the biography of 'The Great Miss Lydia Becker.' She thought the world needed to know about the 19th Century Manchester suffragist - beyond the few lines she had found in a text book.Children aged between 5-11 in all four nations of the UK are to be offered a low dose of the Covid vaccine. Dr Elizabeth Mann, an immunologist at the Lydia Becker Institute at the University of Manchester and Naomi Grimley, BBC Global Health Correspondent joins us.Prince Andrew has reached an out of court settlement with Virginia Giuffre, who had accused him of sexually assaulting her when she was 17. He has always denied the allegations and hasn't admitted any liability. Georgina Calvert-Lee, an employment and equality lawyer at McAllister Olivarius and expert on NDAs and MP Jess Phillips, Labour's Shadow Minister for Domestic Violence and Safeguarding discuss.One mum in the US was left shocked when she told her nurse one of her twin daughter's names, only to be laughed at for it. She posted a video to her TikTok account which went viral. We talk to SJ Strum, who has a YouTube channel and blog which offers baby naming advice.

The National Theatre is embarking on a seven week tour of secondary schools. Their radical reimagining of ‘Jekyll & Hyde’ with two female leads will be watched by more than 10,500 students from across the UK, bringing live theatre to underserved areas like Doncaster, Sunderland and Wigan. It aims to create conversations about issues like Police sexual abuse, violence against women and online misogyny. Emma discusses the play with its director, Kirsty Housley.35-year-old Christina Yuna Lee was attacked and stabbed in her New York apartment after a man followed her into her building. Her murder has caused outrage in the city amid questions about the vulnerability and safety of the Asian community in the city. Communtiy activist Grace Lee joins us from New York.Author Charmaine Wilkerson’s debut novel Black Cake tells the story of how the inheritance of betrayals, secrets, memories, and even names, can shape relationships and history. She joins Krupa to discuss how stories shape our identity and how secrets can impact families across generations.Choosing a name for your child is a personal decision and sometimes you just have to realise not everyone is going to like it. But one mother in the US mum was left shocked when she told her nurse one of her twin daughter's names, only to be laughed at for it. Elizabeth-Leslie Edwards, posted the video to her TikTok account where it went viral with over one million views. We hear from SJ Strum who has has a YouTube channel and blog which offers advice on baby naming.Plus forensic scientist Professor Angela Gallop will be telling us all about 'How to Solve A Crime' . And will we see Hillary Clinton enter the Presidential race in 2024.Presenter Krupa Pardy Producer Beverley Purcell

Schools in the Indian state of Karnataka reopened yesterday after protests broke out in response to the state government trying to ban women wearing the hijab in classrooms. The issue gained widespread attention after videos and images of girls wearing hijab getting heckled while being denied entry to school went viral. Protestors took to the streets to condemn the decision, and women have marched in solidarity in cities across India. Divya Arya, BBC woman’s affairs journalist and Sumayyah Khan, a law student at the Aligarh Muslim University in Uttar Pradesh join Krupa Padhy.It's been announced that children aged between 5 and 11 in all four nations of the UK are to be offered a low dose of the covid vaccine. Children are at a much lower risk of becoming severely ill from a Covid infection, so the health benefits of vaccinating them are smaller than in other age-groups. Also, many will have some protection from already having caught the virus. The Joint Committee on Vaccination and Immunisation (JCVI), which advises governments across the UK, have been weighing up the evidence for immunising five to 11-year-olds. It concluded vaccination should go ahead to prevent a "very small number of children from serious illness and hospitalisation" in a future wave of Covid. Dr Elizabeth Mann, an immunologist at the Lydia Becker Institute at the University of Manchester and Naomi Grimley, BBC Global Health Correspondent discuss.Isabelle Farah is a British Lebanese actor, comedian, and writer. Following an undergraduate degree in French and Film Studies, she trained as a classical actress. She started doing stand up comedy in 2017 and has since gigged across the UK and internationally. Her one woman comedy show, Ellipsis, about grief, authenticity and punchlines, enjoyed a sell-out run at the Edinburgh Fringe last summer, and is currently on at the Pleasance Theatre in London. She explains the personal event that inspired it.New research funded by the Home Office has found that a tenth of domestic abuse cases involve parents being attacked by their children. These findings are based on almost 67,000 reports investigated by Lancashire police, of which 7,171 involved a child over 16 abusing a parent or parental figure. The reports show that abuse was more likely to be intimidating or coercive behaviour than outright violence and the age of the abuser averaged at 27 years old. Nicola Graham-Kevan is a professor of criminal justice psychology at the University of Central Lancashire and led the research. Kat Wilson is a senior support worker at Woman's Aid.Presenter: Krupa Padhy Producer: Kirsty StarkeyInterviewed Guest: Dr Elizabeth Mann Interviewed Guest: Naomi Grimley Interviewed Guest: Divya Arya Interviewed Guest: Summayyah Khan Interviewed Guest: Isabelle Farah Interviewed Guest: Nicola Graham-Kevan Interviewed Guest: Kat Wilson

An out-of-court settlement has been reached between Prince Andrew and Virginia Giuffre. She'd accused him of sexually assaulting her when she was 17. He's always denied it and hasn't admitted any liability. We examine what the settlement means for Virginia Giuffre with the lawyer, Georgina Calvert-Lee and Jess Phillips MP, who's Labour's Shadow Minister for Domestic Violence and Safeguarding.There have been some desperately sad news reports recently about children who've been killed by those they loved and trusted. We talk in depth about child protection? Are vulnerable and at-risk children being removed quick enough from their families? Or do we have a system which takes too many children away without trying other ways to help first? We speak to author and journalist, Polly Curtis who's been investigating this issue as well as Alison Bavidge from the Scottish Association of Social Workers Do you know who Lydia Becker was? She was a suffragist, and one of our listeners really got into her during lock-down. Joanna Williams sat down at her kitchen table and wrote a book about her. It helped her cope with being a full-time carer to her husband.Did you know that women led Bronze Age immigration to Orkney? New research led to the finding. We speak to Dr. Maria Pala from the Archaeogenetics Research Group at the University of Huddersfield to find out more.

Mina Smallman whose daughters were killed in a London park gives her reaction to the latest revelations from the Metropolitan police. Vladimir Putin could launch an invasion of Ukraine "almost immediately", the UK believes as diplomatic efforts continued to avert a war in eastern Europe. Prime Minister Boris Johnson warned on Monday an invasion could take place within 48 hours as he urged Russia's president to step back from the "edge of a precipice". We hear from two women on the ground in Ukraine.We have health & safety officers, diversity officers, and even wellness officers in the workplace. Do we need one for family planning as well? We speak to lawyer Natalie Sutherland, who has just become Britain’s first Fertility Officer, and, Becky Kearns, Co-founder of ‘Fertility Matters at Work’ to find out why more companies should consider appointing one.Presenter Emma Barnett Producer Beverley Purcell

The award-winning poet Imtiaz Dharker has specially selected her favourite "Love Poems" together in a beautiful collection for the Folio Society. There are recent and ancient poems, poems that talk about the animal magnetism of love and others of more profound devotion, but they have all been arranged carefully to speak across centuries and cultures. Imtiaz also shares with Emma her writing tips for those who want to compose something for the person they love today.A record number of women are standing in the French presidential elections in April across the breadth of the political landscape. It’s the first election since the global #metoo movement and commentators are considering whether this could have an impact on the outcome. We hear from Catherine Nicholson who is the European Affairs Editor at France 24 TV and Agnes Poirier UK Editor of L'Express.At-home early abortions were introduced at the start of the pandemic to prevent the number of people visiting clinics, but the legislation is due to expire next month. We speak to Clare Murphy, boss of BPAS, about her fears for pregnant women if the government revokes the measures. You may have been online searching for long-lost members of your family - trying to build that family tree. But now there's a chance to search pictures of relatives too. The National Portrait Gallery has teamed up with the website Ancestry to upload thousands of portraits of well-known and ordinary people it has in their collection. But the gallery has also announced a competition giving the public the chance to submit their own family photos to be selected and displayed. Dr Alison Smith from the National Portrait Gallery tells us how people can make their entries.Presenter: Emma Barnett Producer: Lisa Jenkinson Studio Manager: Giles Aspen

Marian Keyes writes funny, clever novels about the tough stuff in life. Her new novel Again, Rachel revisits Rachel Walsh whose story of recovery from addiction was told in the 1997 novel Rachel's Holiday. Marian explains how her own experience of addiction and recovery shapes the stories she tells.In the glamorous world of luxury property selling high-end homes can be a cut-throat business. Sophie Leigh and Chloe Cable from the reality show Mega Mansion Hunters discuss their uphill struggle to become successful women in the industry.Donna McLean first heard about undercover cops having relationships with female activists in 2010 when Mark Kennedy, an undercover police officer who had spent years pretending to be an environmental campaigner, was unmasked. She didn’t realise until years later she was also a victim of the Spy Cops scandal. She has written a memoir Small Town Girl: Love, Lies and The Undercover Police.A group of mothers in Massachusetts exorcise their pandemic frustrations by screaming in a group in the middle of a football field. Could the craze come to the UK? We speak to Professor Pragya Agarwal and Dr Rebecca Semmens-Wheeler Last week’s Levelling Up white paper has promised a devolution deal to every part of England that wishes to have one by 2030. But what impact has devolution had on female political representation? We discuss with Jemima Olchawski, Chief Executive of the Fawcett Society; Tracy Brabin, Mayor of West Yorkshire; and Jackie Weaver, Chief Officer of the Cheshire Association of Local Councils.Brit-award winning singer-songwriter Kate Nash introduces her new song Imperfect, and shares her experience of learning to wrestle for Netflix series GLOW.Presenter: Anita Rani Producer: Lucy Wai Editor: Lucinda Montefiore

Dame Cressida Dick, the first woman to lead the Metropolitan Police has resigned. We've covered every twist and turn of the many high profile crimes against women and girls involving the Met Police over the last two years. We get reaction from Kristina O'Connor, the daughter of Des O'Connor, who has her own experience of inappropriate Met Police behaviour. Also, Jamie Klingler from Reclaim These Streets, Zoe Billingham who's the former Her Majesty's Inspector of Constabulary and Harriet Wistrich, Director of the Centre for Women's Justice.We hear from Tukwini Mandela, one of Nelson Mandela's oldest grandchildren. Thirty two years to the day, Nelson Mandala was released from Robben Island. Tukwini is here to explore how much the UK population really knows about black history.We speak to Marie Penman who left her job with the charity-side of Raith Rovers football club because it signed David Goodwillie. He was the player who a Scottish civil court found to have raped a woman.Sheila Ferguson. who used to be one of the Three Degrees. is now in a new production of Chicago which is on tour. Sheila joins Anita to talk about new love, dating and hanging out with musical legends when she first started out.

Today the Prince of Wales will unveil a statue of Licoricia, a Medieval Jewish woman outside where she once lived on Jewry Street, Winchester. The statue is hoped to inspire women and provide education on the UK’s Jewish history. Emma is joined by Rebecca Abrams author of ‘Licoricia of Winchester: Power and Prejudice in Mediaeval England’, on why Licoricia’s story is so important.Brit-award winning singer-songwriter Kate Nash, known for her expressive and honest lyrics sung in a North London accent, is coming to venues again very soon. She's got a tour, a fifth album and even a musical coming out this year. You may have seen her in the series, GLOW on Netflix based on the Gorgeous Ladies of Wrestling from the 1980s and she's got a new single, 'Imperfect' out tomorrow along with a new video in the theme of 'Galantine's Day.' She joins Emma live from LA to talk all about releasing new music and learning how to wrestle.Boris Johnson has just made Samantha Jones the most powerful woman in No. 10. No, not the Sex and City character but a former nurse and NHS boss who has been hired as the Prime Minister's first 'Chief Operating Officer'. This is part of the reform of Downing Street he promised after Sue Gray's report on the so-called partygate scandal was released last week. In this new post, Samantha Jones will apparently examine how Number 10 is run and help set up the Office of the Prime Minister. Emma is joined by Rosa Prince, Editor of The House - which is Parliament's magazine - to find out more about her and the role.Last week’s Levelling Up white paper has promised a devolution deal to every part of England that wishes to have one by 2030. But what impact has devolution had on female political representation? We discuss with Jemima Olchawski, Chief Executive of the Fawcett Society and Tracy Brabin, Mayor of West Yorkshire, the only female metro mayor in England and Jackie Weaver, Chief Officer of the Cheshire Association of Local Councils.Sculpture of Licorcia by Ian Rank Broadley.

Marian Keyes writes funny, clever novels about the tough stuff in life. Her books feature addiction, break-ups, poor mental health with women at the heart and lots of good men as well. Her new novel Again, Rachel revisits Rachel Walsh whose story of recovery from addiction was told in the 1997 novel Rachel's Holiday. 25 years later Rachel has come full circle and is now working at the rehab facility where she got into recovery all those years ago. Marian joins Emma to explain how her own experience of addiction and recovery shapes the stories she tells and why happy endings are so important to her.Voice messages left on a crisis hotline ignored for six weeks. More self-harm incidents than any other women's prison. Violence high and a regime that's uncaring and punitive. These are the findings of an inspectorate report out today into Foston Hall, a women's prison in Derbyshire. Four other women's prisons in England have recently been inspected too. Across the board, self-harm has increased in women's prisons during the pandemic, much more than in men's prisons. Emma is joined by Sandra Fieldhouse who leads on women's prisons for Her Majesty’s Inspectorate of Prisons.The crypto art marketplace has taken off over the past couple of years - with some pieces raking in millions - but surprise, surprise, it is nearly as male-dominated as traditional auction sales. For some female artists though, it has been life-changing. That is especially the case for the Scottish artist Anna Louise Simpson, a divorced mother of two, who is with us this morning. We are also joined by Micol Ap who runs VerticalCrypto Art, a media hub and studio dedicated to NFT art.For the last week, the media has been full of the aftermath of the Prime Minister's remarks to the Labour leader Sir Keir Starmer - that he had failed to prosecute Jimmy Savile for sexual assault while Director of Public Prosecutions. A claim that is false, but was seized upon by a group of people who surrounded Starmer on Monday evening. But how has all of this affected Savile's many victims? We hear from one of them, Dee Coles, who told us how outraged she was, and how upset. Emma speaks to Maggie Oliver, a former detective who now runs the Maggie Oliver Foundation which helps victims and survivors of sexual abuse.