Woman's Hour

The Conservative MP Miriam Cates said in the House of Commons that children were being exposed to “graphic” and "age inappropriate" material during their sex education classes. The Prime Minister Rishi Sunak has decided to bring forward a review of the Department for Education’s Relationships and Sex Education guidance in England. Two parents, Fiona, a listener and parent of four and Clare Page who was concerned about what her daughter was being taught discuss. Sian Richardson from Pembrokeshire in Wales is Number 12 on our Woman’s Hour Power List 2023. Sian started The Blue-tit Chill Swimmers nearly 10 years ago, a cold water swimming community which now boasts an incredible 100,000 members world-wide. She explains why she’s encouraging people to get in the water and enjoy the outdoors.Leah Williamson, who took the Lionesses to victory at the Euros in 2022, tops the Woman's Hour Power List 2023. She explains what role her mum plays in her success and talks about male allies in women’s football.Money and Love: An Intelligent Roadmap for Life’s Big Decisions, is written by Stanford professor emeritus Myra Strober, who is an early feminist economist and Abby Davisson, one of Myra's former pupils who is now a social innovation expert. They give detailed advice about navigating the crossroads of finances within a relationship at different life stages.Pessimism is for Lightweights is a new collection of poems by the celebrated performance poet Salena Godden. Salena discusses the collection, how poetry can confront misogyny and injustice, and why she personified death as a woman in her debut novel Mrs Death Misses Death.Presenter: Anita Rani Producer: Paula McFarlane Editor: Lucinda Montefiore

Taiwan's first female president, Tsai Ing-Weng, arrived in New York yesterday to criticism from China. She is stopping over in the US on her way to Central America, but may meet with US House Speaker Kevin McCarthy on her return. China says that if it goes ahead, it could lead to a 'serious confrontation'. To find out more about Tsai Ing-Wen and the significance of this trip, Anita speaks to Tessa Wong, the BBC's Asia digital reporter who regularly reports on China.Pessimism is for Lightweights is a new collection of poems by the celebrated performance poet Salena Godden. It consists of 30 poems written to celebrate courage and resistance, including poems responding to the Women's march, period poverty and everyday sexism. Salena joins Anita to discuss the collection, how poetry can confront misogyny and injustice, and why she personified death as a woman in her debut novel Mrs Death Misses Death.Tracey Stevenson describes her experience of using a gambling site. In 2017 she was sent to prison after stealing £1.7 million from the company she worked for, in order to help fund her online gambling addiction. She also works for the St. Giles Trust helping women in the criminal justice system.We have recently heard from two sisters - we are calling them Charlotte and Louise. One had a revelation in therapy that their mother was a narcissist and the realisation has changed her life. The other is more cautious - she knows their mum could be 'volatile' but she has empathy for her.Ena Miller talk to the two sisters together. What impact has all of this had on their relationship? Can they move forward?Kelsie Grieg, or Kels as she's known in the gaming world, made history recently when she became the first woman to qualify for the Call of Duty Challengers Elite tournament. She explains how swapped the football pitch for video games after an injury forced her to give up a promising career on the pitch. Presented by Anita Rani Producer: Louise Corley Editor: Beverley Purcell

New figures show that there is still a huge backlog of criminal cases waiting to get to court. And the worst delays are for rape and sexual offences. Reporter Melanie Abbott talks to a man who will wait 6 years after reporting he was raped in 2018, and the impact it has had on him and his mother who has been fighting to help him. We hear from Rape Crisis about their report Breaking Point, which shows a record high of sexual offence cases waiting to be heard, and outlines possible solutions for reducing them.Anita talks about women, money and love with the authors of a new self help book. Money and Love: An Intelligent Roadmap for Life’s Big Decisions, is written by two American women, Stanford professor emeritus Myra Strober, who is an early feminist economist and Abby Davisson, one of Myra's former pupils who is now a social innovation expert. They give detailed advice about navigating the crossroads of finances within a relationship at different life stages. Why does everyone want to go viral? And what happens when you do? Anita speaks to writer Julia Boggio who has managed to go viral three times in her life. One of which landed her on the Oprah Winfrey show. But, when Julia wanted to publish her debut novel, Shooters, she was told that she didn’t have enough followers on social media. So, she decided to take matters into her own hands and tried to get her book viral. And it worked. She tells Anita how she managed it.Presenter: Anita Rani Producer: Hanna Ward Studio Manager: Bob Nettles

She talks to Nuala McGovern about how she’s learned to cope with the condition in the elite sports world as well as the work she’s been doing to support other neurodivergent athletes to fulfil their potential.There’s a new book out, The Equal Parent: how sharing the load helps the family thrive. Paul Morgan-Bentley, head of investigations at The Times, explores why it’s still so rare in this country for parents to spread or split the responsibility of parenthood, particularly early parenthood, and why it’s still expected that women should shoulder this pretty much alone. With him to discuss this and to explore ways the parental load could or should be spread more equally is writer and journalist Nell Frizzell who also has a book out: Holding the Baby: Milk, sweat and tears from the frontline of motherhood.Lexi is an NHS nurse and mum of four, who succeeded in challenging ‘no kids’ barriers in the private rental market on the grounds that such bans disproportionately affect women. Going forward, the Property Ombudsman has determined that blanket bans on renting to families are in breach of its Code of Practice. This news comes as the charity Shelter publishes data which shows 1 in 5 parents in England have been unable to rent somewhere they wanted in the last five years because they have children. Lexi tells her story and we hear from the solicitor Jo Underwood.Presenter: Nuala McGovern Producer: Lisa Jenkinson Studio Manager: Sue Maillot

The Woman's Hour Power List 2023 reveal show is here! This is your chance to hear from the women on our list, showcasing the 30 most remarkable women in sport in the UK right now. Join Nuala McGovern, our judges Jessica Creighton, Ebony Rainford Brent and a studio audience live from the Radio Theatre.Producers: Emma Pearce and Alex Webb Presenter: Nuala McGovern

Earlier this month, the Conservative MP Miriam Cates said in the House of Commons that children were being exposed to 'graphic' and 'age inappropriate' material during their sex education classes. The Prime Minister Rishi Sunak has decided to bring forward a planned review of the Department for Education’s Relationships and Sex Education guidance in England. To shed light on what is being taught in schools, and what this review may cover, Nuala McGovern speaks to a range of stakeholders, including headteacher and President of the Association of School and College leaders Evelyn Forde, director of the Sex Education Forum Lucy Emmerson, academic Dr Sophie King-Hill, and Tanya Carter from the Safe Schools Alliance. We also hear from parents and listeners including young people themselves.

Baroness Louise Casey has published the final report on her review into the Metropolitan Police. A female metropolitan police officer and Deputy Commissioner of the Met, Dame Lynne Owens, discuss the findings.Known for shows like Love Island and The Only Way is Essex, social media influencer Georgia Harrison talks about her new TV documentary. It follows her successful legal battle against her former partner who filmed and shared a sex video of the two of them without her consent on the OnlyFans website.Suzi Ruffell is on a mission to find the lighter moments in life as she navigates motherhood, touring the country and anxiety. The comedian's latest show Snappy is a series of confessional stories about settling down, living life with her "bossy toddler" and worrying about absolutely everything. Mabel Constanduros was a trailblazing female broadcaster and comedian on BBC Radio in the early days of the corporation. She created the sitcom as a genre and brought soap operas to the UK. So why has history forgotten her? Mabel’s great-great nephew Jack Shillito and the academic Jennifer Purcell discuss.Presenter Anita Rani Producer: Paula McFarlane Editor: Beverley Purcell

It’s fifty years since six newly elected female traders entered the floor of the London Stock Exchange for the first time after 200 years of exclusion. The number of women working in finance reached a peak in 1997 at almost six-hundred-thousand, but has dropped by more than thirty percent to around four-hundred-thousand last year. Half a century after the first women were allowed onto the floor at the London Stock Exchange, the ‘inequity’ that has held women back in the industry has still not been fully redressed. We talk to Julia Hoggett, CEO of the London Stock Exchange and Beryl Gayler, one of the first female dealers there.Soaps and dramas are increasingly making mainstream issues an integral part of their storylines. Take the current Eastenders storyline following Lola Pearce’s terminal brain tumour diagnosis or Jean Slater’s battle with ovarian cancer in 2019. But what about a drama series that explores a cancer diagnosis through conversations on a social media app? The charity Breast Cancer Now has created the UK’s first group messaging series which consists of voice notes, messages and videos sent between four close friends as they navigate an unexpected breast cancer diagnosis together. Anita is joined by two of the women who inspired the story, Kelly Short and Lurline Thomas, as well as the Associate Director of Nursing and Health Information at Breast Cancer Now, Sally Kum, to discuss whether this could be Wea new way of supporting women with cancer. Suzi Ruffell is on a mission to find the lighter moments in life as she navigates motherhood, touring the country and anxiety. The comedian's latest show Snappy is a series of confessional stories about settling down, living life with her "bossy toddler" and worrying about absolutely everything. Suzi Ruffell joins Anita Rani. Presenter: Anita Rani Producer: Lisa Jenkinson Studio Manager: Duncan Hannant

Taking any type of hormonal contraception could increase your risk of getting breast cancer, according to a new study by the Cancer Epidemiology Unit at Oxford Population Health, which is part of the University of Oxford. It’s one of the first big studies into this type of birth control assessing the risk of breast cancer. But headlines like this will be alarming, so, what do we need to know and do? Dr Charlotte Porter, Vice President of Speciality at the Faculty of Sexual and Reproductive Health and Karis Betts, Senior Health Information Manager at Cancer Research UK talk to Anita.More than 140,000 schoolchildren in England were officially "severely absent" in the summer term of 2022, according to official Department of Education figures, and the number of these pupils, missing at least 50% of classes, is growing. So what can be done about it, and how can the individual contributions of headteachers and teachers make a difference? Anita is joined by Caroline Walker a headteacher in Barrow and Alice Wilcock, Head of Education for The Centre for Social Justice.What are the traits of a narcissistic mother? In the second of a Woman's Hour series, 'Narcissistic Mothers,' reporter Ena Miller meets 'Louise' and talks to her about her late mother. Louise's sister 'Charlotte' thinks their mother was a narcissist, but 'Louise' isn't so sure.Mabel Constanduros was a trailblazing female broadcaster and comedian on BBC Radio in the early days of the corporation. She created the sitcom as a genre and brought soap operas to the UK. So why has history forgotten her? Anita Rani speaks to Mabel’s great-great nephew Jack Shillito and the academic Jennifer Purcell.Presenter: Anita Rani Studio manager: Duncan Hannant

On a special phone in edition of Woman's Hour we look at trust in the police following the review by Baroness Casey into a toxic culture at the Met Police. She found the 'the force has lost the trust and confidence of the people it is supposed to keep safe' and gave shocking examples of sexism, racism and homophobia. The report was commissioned in the aftermath of the rape and murder of Sarah Everard by PC Wayne Couzens, who has been sentenced to life imprisonment. Since then, we’ve also had the sentencing of former police officer David Carrick, who pleaded guilty to 85 serious offences, including rapes, sexual assaults, false imprisonment, and coercive and controlling behaviour. He is now serving time in jail, for a minimum of 32 years. We want to hear your views - do you trust the police? Would you think twice about asking for help as a woman of colour or if you'd been sexually assaulted? Call Nuala McGovern to have your say on 03700 100 444. Lines open at 0830 Wednesday.Presenter: Nuala McGovern Producer: Lisa Jenkinson Studio Mangaer: Gayl Gordon