Woman's Hour

Throughout April the UK holds the presidency of the United Nation’s Security Council as the world focuses its attention on the war in Ukraine. The woman who takes on that role is Dame Barbara Woodward who’s the UK’s Permanent Representative to the UN. She talks to Emma about her priorities and plans for a new global code of conduct to improve the pursuit of justice for survivors of conflict-relate...

The debate over sex and gender filters through to many areas of our lives today whether its about women-only spaces, trans athletes competing in sporting events or our use of language to define what a woman is. It’s now being put centre stage of the local elections next month by a new campaign called "Respect my Sex if you want my X”. The campaign run by Women Uniting UK is urging voters – both me...

With over 100 million record sales, an Academy Award, an Emmy, a Grammy, three Golden Globes and an award from The Council of Fashion Designers of America, very few artists have a catalogue that matches the iconic Cher. A new musical, touring the UK - “The Cher Show” - tells the story of the Goddess of Pop’s meteoric rise to fame. The director and choreographer behind the show are two Strictly Com...

We explore No Fault Divorce. The biggest reform of divorce law for 50 years comes into force- changing a law that dates back to Henry VIII. We hear from listener, Helen, currently going through a divorce. The Paralympic five time gold medallist Ellie Simmonds was born with achondroplasia, the most common type of dwarfism. A new drug currently being trialled in the NHS and now approved for use in t...

The new season of Top Boy currently on Netflix, shines a light on the reality of life for those involved in London drug gangs and the people who live around them. This season covers social issues such as deportation, homophobia and child neglect, with the character Lauryn’s experience of domestic violence being a central storyline. Actor Saffron Hocking, who plays Lauryn on the show joins us to ta...

Grace Lavery is an Associate Professor of English, Critical Theory, and Gender and Women’s Studies at the University of California, Berkeley. Originally from the West Midlands, Grace moved to the States in 2008, and transitioned in 2018. She is an activist as well as an academic, and has now written a memoir called Please Miss – A Heartbreaking Work of Staggering Penis. This morning 100 individual...

The biggest reform of divorce law for 50 years comes into force today. As ‘no-fault divorce' comes into practice Woman's Hour are opening our phone lines to listen to what YOU have to say on the changes. We want to hear your experiences of ending your marriage and what difference you think these new measures will make? Would this change have made your divorce more amicable? Have you postponed gett...

Reports are coming through that Russian soldiers have raped women in Ukraine. There are reports that women have been raped in front of their children, and soldiers have filmed what they're doing. We hear the latest from BBC correspondent Emma Vardy, and discuss why rape in war happens, justice and trauma with Dr Jelke Boesten, Professor of Gender and Development at King's College London. The Equal...

The Paralympic five time gold medallist Ellie Simmonds was born with achondroplasia, the most common type of dwarfism. A new drug currently being trialled in the NHS and now approved for use in the USA aims to help children with achondroplasia grow taller. In a new BBC documentary: A World without Dwarfism, Ellie raises the question if cutting edge medicine can stop disability in its tracks, shoul...

Do you have a soundtrack to your life that you return to again and again? Or have music that powers you through? DJ Sister Bliss and Goldsmiths Professor Lauren Stewart, who studies the psychology and neuroscience of music, explore the power of music to affect our mood and well-being. The Ockenden Review was published this week, led by midwife Donna Ockenden, into the maternity care provided to pa...

Have you heard of Nubia from the DC comic books? She’s the adopted sister of Wonder Woman and is DC’s first Black superwoman introduced in the 70s before disappearing from comics for decades. Nubia returned last year in the new comic book Nubia: Real One, which is set in modern day America and tells the story of her teenage life. Anita talks to the cartoonist, Robyn Smith who illustrated the book...

Today we are dedicating the whole programme to the biggest maternity scandal in the NHS's history - leading to headlines across newspapers today stating childbirth is not safe for women in England. Those are the stark words of the midwife Donna Ockenden - the author of the long awaited Ockenden Review - published yesterday. Her mission? To find out what went on under the care of those working for...

Do you have a soundtrack to your life that you return to again and again? Emma explores the power of music to affect our mood and well being with DJ and song writer and Sister Bliss and Professor Lauren Stewart from Goldsmiths who studies the psychology and neuroscience of music. Whenever there’s a catastrophic event somewhere in the world Lucy Easthope is likely to get a phone call about it. She’...

Emma Barnett speaks to Ella Jarmulska a Polish entrepreneur who wants to provide safer car rides to families fleeing the war in Ukraine. Displaced and disoriented, often with no idea where to go next, refugees are forced to put their trust in strangers. Trafficking rings are notoriously active in Ukraine and neighbouring countries in peace time. The fog of war is perfect cover to increase business...

We speak to 3 MPs who are members of the Women’s Diplomatic Battalion of Ukraine. They are Olena Khomenko, Mariia Mezentseva and Alona Shkrum. They're all about shuttle diplomacy, pressing their case for international help. Coverage of the Oscars has been dominated by Will Smith's punch in defence of his wife, Jada Pinkett Smith. Nimco Ali, Independent Government Adviser on Tackling Violence Again...

TV shows go to huge lengths with their sets, costumes and wigs to make you feel like you’re looking back at the past but why – given hair removal is a fairly modern development – is body hair so rarely seen? We hear from historian Dr Marissa C Rhodes. After Nazanin Zaghari-Ratcliffe expressed her opinions at a press conference this week, 'ungrateful' started trending online. Reaction from Gina Mil...

Ammu, a term used mostly in South Asian Muslim homes for mother, is the title of Asma Khan’s new book. Part memoir, part cookbook 'Ammu' is a celebration of the food she loves to make but also of the woman who nurtured her and taught her to cook. Drawing on her experiences during the pandemic, the chef and founder of the acclaimed restaurant Darjeeling Express, celebrates the power of home cooking...

Best known for The Affair and Luther, and more recently playing her own grandmother in a BBC drama, actor Ruth Wilson joins Emma to talk about her two latest roles – on the London stage in The Human Voice and on screen in True Things. Jude Terry is the first female Rear Admiral in the Royal Navy’s history. Since joining the Navy in 1997, she has served aboard HMS Scott, and spent two spells with h...

Ash Barty, the Australian three time grand slam champion is retiring from tennis. Her achievements are matched only by her fellow player, Serena Williams. Andy Murray tweeted "Happy for Ash, gutted for tennis. What a player". We hear from Gigi Salmon, tennis commentator for the BBC who has interviewed Ash Barty many times over the years, and has been at all her three major wins. The concept of sha...

Who was Ellen Wilkinson? Poet and playwright Caroline Bird aims to tell us all about her as her new work Red Ellen goes on tour. Yesterday Nazanin Zaghari-Ratcliffe faced a room of journalists and cameras. She knew what she wanted to say, and what she didn't want to say after six years away from home. Despite the trauma she's been through why do some people feel she needs to express more gratitude...

A new exhibition, Photographing Protest: Resistance through a feminist lens, features striking protest images by women and explores how images of resistance resonate across generations from 1968 to the present day. Maggie Murray, a prolific photographer of protest, whose images feature throughout the exhibition. As a founding member of Format photo agency, she documented ground-breaking protests o...

As Nazanin Zaghari-Ratcliffe comes home after six years in Iranian detention, Emma spoke to the Foreign Secretary Liz Truss MP about what it took to secure her release along with another British-Iranian hostage Anoosheh Ashoori. In true popstar fashion, singer Rihanna announced her pregnancy in January with a New York photoshoot alongside her boyfriend, the rapper ASAP Rocky, wearing a bright pink...

Brittney Griner is 6 foot 9. She's an American basketball player, some say she's the greatest female basketball player of all time and she is currently being detained in Russia on drug charges that could carry a sentence of up to 10 years in prison. Overnight Russian courts have extended her detention for two more months. All this while tensions between Russia and the States remain tense and her f...

As Nazanin Zaghari-Ratcliffe comes home after six years in Iranian detention, Emma speaks to the Foreign Secretary Liz Truss MP about what it took to secure her release along with another British-Iranian hostage Anoosheh Ashoori.

The recent resignation of DUP First Minister, Paul Givan, from Stormont last month, has left people in Northern Ireland without a properly functioning government. On top of that, an election is coming - one that could bring massive political change if recent polls are to be believed. Leading unionist and DUP MLA Diane Dodds joins Emma on the programme to discuss Brexit, the Northern Ireland protoc...