Woman's Hour

Becky’s father was convicted of sex offences against children and sent to prison. He has since been released but while in prison he undertook a sex offender rehabilitation programme. For a BBC documentary Can Sex Offenders Change? Becky meets a growing number of sex offenders who have not been sent to prison, and have received treatment in the community. She tries to understand what drove them to...

Fawzia Koofi, a member of Afghanistan's peace negotiating team survived an assassination attempt on Friday. This come after the Afghan government announced a new council to safeguard women's rights and interests, amid fears peace talks with the Taliban could lead to the loss of hard-won gains. Mahjooba Nowrouzi from the BBC Afghan Service explains. In 1973, Julie Welch became the first woman to re...

On VJ Day we hear from Patricia and Jean Owtram who both served their country while their father was a prisoner of war in the Far East. We discuss the findings of the BBC Sport Elite British Sportswomen's survey 2020 published this week. Karen Maine tells us about her new film Yes God, Yes about 16 year old Alice growing up a Catholic and attending Catholic school in the early noughties in the Ame...

To mark VJ Day 75 we’ll be speaking to two sisters, Patricia and Jean Owtram whose father was a prisoner of war in the Far East. At the time both sisters were serving their country. They are the last two living sisters to have signed the official secrets act in WW2. Patricia received a Legion of Honour for her interception of enigma code for Bletchley park as a WREN tapping into German shipping ra...

With nightlife on pause during lockdown how have DJs been adapting? DJ Flight has been at the forefront of drum and bass for over two decades. Signed to Goldie’s label Metalheadz, she’s played all over the world and is founder of EQ50, a project aimed at improving gender equality in drum and bass. Ngaio Anyia is a singer and DJ from Bristol who runs Booty Bass, a collective who offer DJ lessons fo...

Alexandra Wilson on her new book “In Black and White”. The story of breaking down barriers of race and class to become a barrister. She explains how losing a very close family friend to knife crime made her pursue a career in law and how she has overcome her family’s fears of becoming “part of the system” Joe Biden, the Democratic nominee for President in this year’s US elections has finally named...

Prime Minister Boris Johnson has called for Britain and France to work together to stop migrant boats crossing the Channel to Dover. On Friday a record number of unaccompanied migrant children arrived in the UK. The 23 youths were taken into the care of Kent County Council, on top of the 70 who arrived in July. According to the latest Home Office Statistics 90% of young (under 18) unaccompanied re...

Presented by Jenni Murray. Every few days we hear of more jobs going. The Bank of England said at the end of last week that unemployment is likely to hit 2.5 million this year. That means the jobless total would almost double by Christmas. Tonight there’s a Channel 4 documentary series starting which focuses on a job centre in Leeds and the people who use it. Jenni is joined by Olivia, who is a si...

The multi award winning writer Zadie Smith on 'Intimations', a collection of personal essays about lockdown. Photo courtesy of Dominique Nabokov. The rise in families with children under 5 needing help from baby banks has risen significantly since the pandemic began. We hear from Lauren Elrick who has a fifteen month old daughter and uses Abernecessities in Aberdeenshire. Sophia Parker, chief exec...

Would you stand up for your mate if she was being discriminated against? Would you stick up for her, even if it caused you problems? Today we discuss how to be a good ally. Whether it’s racism, sexism or homophobia what’s the best way to speak up and support your friends? We're joined by Chloe Laws from Glamour Magazine, Richie Brave who presents Brave Conversations on BBC 1Xtra, and Danielle Dash...

Zadie Smith’s newest book, ‘Intimations’, was written during the early months of lockdown. It is a series of personal essays reflecting on the unprecedented situation of a worldwide pandemic, hoping to provoke readers to reflect on what has happened and what might come next. Maternity care is to be the first focus of an independent new panel set up by the Health and Social Care Committee to give r...

The Duchess of Cambridge has spearheaded a campaign to persuade retailers to donate items to baby banks around the UK. New figures from the three big charities – Baby Basics, Little Village and AberNecessities have published figures which show the number of families with children under five who’ve needed their help has risen significantly since the coronavirus crisis began. How are they managing t...

Empowering schoolchildren to identify propaganda and distorted facts online

How can you help your children to identify fake news on the internet? With the explosion of different platforms it can be hard to keep tabs on what they are watching. Jane finds out from the editor of 'The Week Junior', Anna Bassi, and Juliane von Reppert-Bismarck, the founder of 'Lie Detectors', an award-winning news literacy project which empowers schoolchildren to identify propaganda and distor...

Listen to sisters Ella and Amy. They're behind Kids Against Plastic and talk to us about the world's reliance on plastic, especially single use plastic, and the way we just dump it. On Wednesday they're part of the online climate change forum called ‘Race Against Climate Change’. We go to Ireland to hear about a tampon TV ad which has caused a stir, so much so it's been taken off air. Some people...

We discuss the process of recovery after domestic abuse, the way that these relationships can stay with you but also how you can build a new life after. How do those who have survived abuse find their behaviour affected? What do they wish that their friends and family had understood? And how can friends and family can help? With Sue Penna, co-founder of Rockpool who deliver trauma-informed trainin...

How to End a Relationship, Alice Oseman, Mother and Baby Units in Prison.

New Department for Education figures out this morning revealed that 7,894 children were excluded from school in England during 2018/19. This is a slight decrease from the previous year, but otherwise the numbers have been increasing year on year since 2013. Although girls are less likely than boys to be formally excluded, a charity called Social Finance UK released research this month showing that...

The Black Lives Matter movement has shone a light on a number of areas of society where discrimination and prejudice exists beneath the surface. Today we explore what it’s like to be a black woman and work in the music industry. Jacqueline Springer is a music lecturer and journalist. Fleur East is an artist and songwriter who rose to fame after coming second on the X Factor in 2014. Lioness MC is...

We often take it for granted that cycling can make you feel a bit saddle sore. But that expectation masks the fact that many women experience real pain when cycling - due to a combination of inappropriate saddles, ill-fitting bikes and a lack of understanding by medical experts of the damage that can be done to the vulva. Now that cycling may soon be on prescription and bikes are soaring in popula...

The school summer holidays are underway across the UK – but this year they’re going to be a bit different. Thanks to coronavirus there’s a shortage of childcare and holiday clubs, helpful grandparents are mostly off-limits, parents are already exhausted from juggling home-working and home-school for four months, and teenagers are faced with another six weeks of restricted freedoms. So how are peop...

Known as The Barnsley Nightingale, the folk singer, Kate Rusby talks about her latest album of covers, and recording it with her husband and two young daughters. A number of high street retail stores have announced job losses. So many of the shop floor, customer facing jobs are done by women. Retail analyst Catherine Shuttleworth, and Sue Prynn,deputy divisional officer for USDAW's southern divisi...

In court in New York last week President Trump’s niece, Mary J Trump found out that a temporary restraining order on her book about her uncle was going to be lifted. She joins Jenni to talk about Too Much and Never Enough: How My Family Created The World’s Most Dangerous Man. Editor-in-chief of ELLE magazine and board member of the Social Mobility Commission, Farrah Storr, chats to Jenni about lau...

The folk singer, Kate Rusby also has the nickname, The Barnsley Nightingale. Kate's latest album is covers of pop music you're bound to recognise, but in her own folksy, mellow way. She talks to us about why she did an album of covers, how she recorded it with her husband and girls, and why Susannah Hoff made her cry. Seoul in South Korea is known as the plastic surgery capital of the world. There...

Heading to the British coast on holiday this year? The fascinating Heather Buttivant tells us what wonders we can find in the common rock pool, and how to interest kids in them.