Woman's Hour

Sian Berry is co-leader of the Green Party. The Greens have seen a rise in support at local and European elections, and polling experts say they’ve had success in attracting younger women voters. How do they plan to win further seats at Westminster and promote green policies in their manifesto? We ask Sian Berry what the Greens are offering women that other parties aren't. Liz Saville Roberts is Plaid Cymru’s leader at Westminster. She's wants to stop a New Deal Brexit, and her party has formed an electoral pact with the Lib Dems and the Greens. That means they're not going to stand against each other in certain seats. She's a supporter of the Unite to Remain Pact saying that it would be the “easiest thing under the sun” for all parties to “go back to the comforts of tribalism”. She tells us what her party is offering women in Wales.How do you raise multilingual children? And what happens when your first language isn't very common where you live? Language is one of those things that help you stay connect

As the EU declares a global ‘climate and environmental emergency’ will you be changing your food habits this Christmas ? Will you ditch the turkey for a more sustainable alternative, buy less and consider food miles when you shop? How will you reduce the amount of food waste over the holiday period? Jane is joined by Jack Monroe the food writer and campaigner, Journalist Nina Pullman and Jenny Costa from the company Rubies in the Rubble.Glass Walls is a stained-glass art installation which raises awareness of domestic abuse through art. The installation is now being exhibited around Scotland. Dr Emma Forbes is a lawyer who created Glass Walls and has spent the last three years speaking to women about their experience of the justice process and researching Scotland’s response to domestic abuse. She joins Jane to discuss along with Sarah, a domestic abuse survivor who got involved with the project. Male supremacy, for all its ubiquity, is surprisingly recent, according to the science writer Gaia Vince. In her

In the first of a series of interviews with party leaders, we hear from Nicola Sturgeon, First Minister of Scotland and leader of the Scottish National Party. Jane asks her about her party’s offer for women voters.Your sex life in your forties - has it become more pleasurable now that sex is less about the biological clock? We’ll hear from psychosexual therapist and couples counsellor, Cate Mackenzie, Samantha Evans a sexual health and pleasure expert and Janet Barter a consultant in sexual and reproductive health at the Faculty of Sexual and Reproductive Healthcare.Presenter: Jane Garvey Producer: Dianne McGregor

‘& Juliet’ has just opened in London’s West End. It’s a comic, musical reimagining of the events of Shakespeare’s tragic romance ‘Romeo & Juliet’ in which Juliet opts not to take her own life at the end and instead heads off to France on a road trip of self-discovery. Both Miriam-Teak Lee who plays Juliet and Cassidy Janson, who plays Anne Hathaway, Shakespeare’s wife join Andrea Catherwood.A decorated senior police officer who was sent an unsolicited child abuse video by her concerned sister has been convicted and put on a sex offenders register. She said she hadn’t seen the video. The Black Policing Association say that the pursuance of the case, which was at the discretion of the Met Police, shows institutional racism. They join us, along with the Internet Watch Foundation who explain what you should do if you receive unsolicited images or videos of abuse.Sasha Wass QC has been a criminal barrister for nearly 40 years – she’s defended and prosecuted numerous high profile cases such as Rosemary West

How much do you limit your child's screen time? The runner-up of The Fortnite World Cup, which took place this summer, was Jaden Ashman, a British 15-year-old who won nearly a million pounds. Before the computer tournament he was spending more than eight hours a day in front of a screen. We know that screen time already causes lots of family arguments so what will happen when your child says gaming could win them a fortune, just like Jaden? Tina Daheley talks to Mark Griffiths, Professor of Behavioural Addiction at Nottingham Trent University and Belinda Parmar who campaigns against tech addiction.

Now the manifestos have almost all been published by the political parties we look at what they are offering women in this general election. We hear from Danielle Sheridan, political correspondent at the Telegraph, Ash Sarkar, contributing editor at Novara Media and Rachel Sylvester Times columnist and political interviewer. A statue of Nancy Astor, the first woman MP to take her seat in Parliament will be unveiled in Plymouth on Thursday, the centenary of her election. Mari Takaynagi Senior Archivist , Parliamentary Archives at the Houses of Parliament and Dr Jacqui Turner an Associate professor at Reading University tell us about her legacy and the importance of having the statue in the City she represented for 26 years.And author Mikhal Dekel talks to Jane about the extraordinary true story of one thousand Polish-Jewish child refugees - among them her father - who escaped the Nazis and found refuge in Iran. Presenter Jane Garvey Producer Beverley PurcellGuest; Danielle Sheridan Guest; Ash Sarkar

The Irish government is proposing that important documents about industrial schools should be sealed for 75 years. But some women who stayed in them, like Rosemary, pictured here when she was a baby, say they don't want the files and testimonies to be kept secret. They say they're crucial, historical documents. The government disagrees, believing it's about confidentiality and preservation. We hear from Rosemary and Elizabeth, women in their 60s and 70s, who describe what it was like living in these places.There's a new film out called Harriet. It's based on the story of Harriet Tubman who escaped slavery in the States in 1849. She became a leading abolitionist. As a ‘conductor’ she enabled hundreds of enslaved people to gain their freedom along the route of the Underground Railroad. The film stars the British actress, Cynthia Erivo. Jane speaks to Kasi Lemmons, the film’s director.Gentleman Jack was on BBC One earlier this year, and ever since visitors have flocked to Shibden Hall. They've also traveled to

When journalist Rose Stokes wrote about her experience of getting pregnant after taking the morning after pill and what it revealed to her about exactly how this emergency contraception works (and when it doesn’t), the response online was huge. We look at how emergency contraception works, how safe it is, and ask why women don’t know more.Recent research from the social market Foundation proposed that women start receiving a pension boost to offset the increasing disadvantage of a growing care burden, both with child care and as the population ages. This is one of many policy suggestions that are currently being developed to deal with a problem that all parties acknowledge. But how should we price the care work that so many women do? And do policy makers have the data they need in this area? Kathryn Petrie, author of the report, says not. We ask why the economics profession hasn’t done more on this subject and hear from leading Care Economist Prof. Susan Himmelweit, Emeritus Professor of Economics at The Open

Criticised for not expressing sympathy for Jeffrey Epstein’s victims in his recent interview with BBC's Emily Maitlis, Prince Andrew has since told friends he ‘regretted’ not doing so. We consider how victims and survivors are so often an afterthought when allegations of sexual assault are being discussed.French women don’t get fat. They look effortlessly chic and coiffed at all times too. We all know the cliché of the perfect French woman – but how much of it is true? And how much does it impact French women who might not fit into this mould? Alice Pfeiffer, author of the book Je ne suis pas Parisienne, takes us through the history of this problematic icon.Women make up 28 per cent of the police workforce in England and Wales, but in ranks of chief inspector or above, women only represent 20 per cent.? As all 43 forces attend the first Gender Equality Summit, we ask how can they encourage women to see policing as a viable career.Rhiannon Giddens is a Grammy Award winning musician who went from opera to folk.

Rhiannon Giddens is a Grammy Award winning musician. She's in the Woman's Hour studio to perform a track from her new album “There is No Other”. She’ll be talking about her music, her career and why some of her best gigs have been inside prisons. This week there's been news of still births, neo-natal baby deaths, mothers dying during labour and children born with brain damage in Shropshire. It involved the Shrewsbury and Telford Hospital NHS Trust and it's widely been described as the largest maternity scandal in the UK. This week’s news has led to even more families getting in contact with lawyers asking for help. We speak to one solicitor in Shrewsbury called Beth Harrison, who says new enquiries are coming in every day. We also talk to Dr Bill Kirkup who chaired a major review into the Morecambe Bay scandal. Women in Data is an organisation which connects up women who work in the field of data. Research suggests that only 26% of people working in data in the UK are women. So why should women think about a

Over the last month parents, as well as MPs and peers, have spoken out about autistic children and vulnerable adults being placed in hospitals for a long time and sometimes treated poorly. The Joint Committee of Human Rights said mental health hospitals can inflict “terrible suffering on those detained … causing anguish to their distraught family.” One mother in the West Midlands got in touch with us to tell us about her daughter. Her daughter has autism and other mental health conditions and went to hospital when she was 14. She’s now 28 and has never returned home. In fact, she’s in her sixth hospital, 80 miles from her family. She spoke to Siobhann Tighe about how her daughter’s absence has affected the whole family.As Disney releases Frozen 2, we’ll be discussing how it’ll go down with its young audience. Its predecessor, Frozen, is the most successful animated musical of all time. And its impact wasn’t just financial – fans called it the most important feminist film ever made. I’ll be speaking to the f

Following our series of interviews with the wives of veterans who had PTSD we hear from a listener called Sarah who got in touch to share her story. As a woman who suffers from the condition she tells us why it can be just as difficult for a woman to acknowledge having it as it is for a man and why it’s often ignored. Marie-Elsa Bragg is an author, a priest in the diocese of London, therapist, a spiritual director and Duty Chaplain at Westminster Abbey. Her new book Sleeping Letters is an exploration of grief, loss, healing and faith, that looks back to the childhood moment when her mother took her own life. Maternity and menopause are being talked about today to try and address gender inequality in the police force. How to recruit more women is also on the agenda, as well as what crimes women police inspectors and detectives investigate when they’re in the job. It’s part of a Gender Equality Summit that ALL 43 forces in the country are taking part in. They’ve already signed up to ways which should imp

Criticised for not expressing sympathy for Jeffrey Epstein’s victims in his recent interview with BBC's Emily Maitlis, Prince Andrew has since told friends he ‘regretted’ not doing so. We consider how victims and survivors are so often an afterthought when allegations of sexual assault are being discussed. Actor Mia Wasikowska and director and writer Mirrah Foulkes discuss their new film, Judy & Punch, a dark fairy tale that turns the familiar seaside entertainment on its head. French women don’t get fat. They don’t age or struggle to look effortlessly chic either. We all know the cliché of the perfect French woman – but how much of it is true? Where does the stereotype come from? Alice Pfeiffer, author of the book Je ne suis pas Parisienne, takes us through the history of this problematic icon. Lady Glenconner grew up in one of the largest estates in England in Holkham Hall, Norfolk, visited by members of the Royal Family. She was maid of honour at the Queen’s Coronation, Lady in Waiting to Princess Ma

Earlier this month, McDonald's Chief Executive Officer Steve Easterbrook was fired for having a consensual relationship with a subordinate. But what are the rules where you work? And how easy are they to navigate?Do you know where the line is between flirting and harassment in the post #MeToo era? Or has it all gone too far? Whether you’ve had a relationship at work, been affected by the fallout surrounding one, or are an employer who wants to tell us about policies you’ve put in place to protect your workforce, we want to hear from you. Call 03700 100 444 - lines open at 0800 - or email via the website: womanshour@bbc.co.uk.Presenter: Jane Garvey Producer: Anna Lacey

It’s well-known that the Roman Catholic Church is struggling to find new priests. Sexual abuse scandals haven’t helped. But for some years, there’s been a movement to allow women to be priests. Will we see it happen any time soon? The writer Marnie Dickens explains why she wanted to focus on the life of an older woman for her new BBC One series Gold Digger.We hear from Kay, who went to an employment tribunal to fight for equal pay. How might the right to ask an employer what a colleague earns help combat unequal pay?What do you do when your child says they're too ill to go to school – but you suspect that they’re perfectly fine?Jade Wye and Melissa Rice are the first ever winners of the Rachel Bland Podcast Award. Rachel was one of the presenters of You, Me and the Big C, a 5 Live Podcast about cancer and after she died the podcast competition was set up in her memory. Jade and Melissa's podcast is called Hooked: The Unexpected Addicts. They share their stories of addiction, rehab and recovery.Food writer Me

Jane speaks to director, Jessica Kaliisa about her play, Queens of Sheba, inspired by the four black women turned away from a London nightclub in 2015 for being “too dark-skinned and overweight”. On stage next week at the Battersea Arts Club in London, actor, Tosin Alabi, joins the discussion of how the lives of a group of friends were changed forever when confronted with misogynoir - where sexism meets racism.Chile’s worst unrest in decades has transformed into a nationwide uprising demanding dramatic changes to the country’s economic and political system. We hear from Chilean journalist, Constanza Hola, about why people are taking to the streets to fight for equality. Women are taking a significant role in the social movement at all levels. We find out what their particular demands are? It’s well-known that the Roman Catholic Church is struggling to find new priests, especially in Europe and America. Sexual abuse scandals haven’t helped. But for some years, there’s been a movement to allow women to be prie

In the RSC’s ‘Taming of the Shrew’, currently on stage at the Barbican in London, 1590’s England is a matriarchy. With a radical take on Shakespeare’s comedy of gender, the audience witnesses an explosive courtship and a fast-moving portrayal of hierarchy and coercive control between the female Petruchia, played by Claire Price, and her male opposite still known as Katherine. Claire and Jane are joined by Dr Emma Whipday, lecturer in Renaissance literature at Newcastle University. Why has this gender swap proved necessary and what effect does it have?My Best Day: we asked you, our listeners, to get in touch and send us a picture that somehow captured you at your best. Not just looking your best, but feeling your best. Today we hear from Sara Tidesel.3.5 million people in the UK have a rare disease according to Rare Diseases UK – meaning that 1 in 17 people will have a condition that most GPs have never seen before and may struggle to diagnose. In her graphic memoir 'A Puff of Smoke', Sarah Lippet recounts he

What do you do when your child says they're too ill to go to school – but you suspect that they’re perfectly fine? Jane discusses with Dr Angharad Rudkin, clinical child psychologist at the University of Southampton, and Rebecca Schiller, parenting journalist and mother-of-two.

Elizabeth Strout won The Pulitzer Prize in 2009 for her novel, Olive Kitteridge. Ten years later, with three prize-winning novels in between, Elizabeth Strout has written a sequel, OIive, Again. The main character Olive is now quite elderly and still living in the American state of Maine. She's still cantankerous, judgemental and rude but also kind, honest, and as hard on herself as she is on others. And perhaps a little wiser. Old age, small town life, loneliness, tenderness, failed marriages, sickness and death: these are all themes that Elizabeth Strout tackles.Jade Wye and Melissa Rice are the first ever winners of the Rachel Bland Podcast Award. Rachel was one of the presenters of You, Me and the Big C, a 5 Live Podcast about cancer and after she died the podcast competition was set up in her memory. Jade and Melissa's podcast is called Hooked: The Unexpected Addicts. It talks honestly about addiction and recovery and wants to debunk myths and stereotypes. They share their story with Jane.The TV s

What do you do when your child says they're too ill to go to school – but you suspect that they’re perfectly fine? How could the ‘whole system approach’ support women in the Criminal Justice system in Wales? The writer and creator of Gold Digger Marnie Dickens. A 60 year old divorced woman and mother of three is seduced by a much younger man. Why is the relationship met with such suspicion and annoyance? Plus the life and work of Madam C.J. Walker - the daughter of slaves who went on to become the USA’s first self-made millionaire, with a groundbreaking afro haircare business, which still dominates the BAME haircare industry today. Presenter Jane Garvey Producer Beverley PurcellGuest; Marnie Dickens Guest; Dr Angharad Rudkin Guest; Rebecca Schiller. Guest; Elena Favilli, Guest; Charlotte Mensah Guest; Eleri Butler Guest; Martin Nugent Guest; Juliet Lyon