Woman's Hour Folgen

“Gendered power dynamics underpin the AI debate,” says Ivana Bartoletti. She’s an expert in data privacy and has set up a network called, Women Leading in AI. Ivana believes AI is linked to inequality and oppression. She talks to us about getting more women into coding, our addiction to being online and female cyborgs like Alexa and Siri.Why is the issue of HPV only discussed in relation to younger people? That's a question put by Helen, one of our listeners. The HPV vaccine is currently given to girls and boys in the UK, but would it help if older women got it too? We chat to Helen, as well as Imogen Pinnell from Jo’s Cervical Cancer Trust. The Domestic Abuse Bill 2020 is having its third reading today in the House of Commons. It's taken two years to get to this point. Today we talk to Harriet Wistrich, Director of the Centre for Women’s Justice. She talks to Jane about the Bill’s significance, but more specifically about women prisoners who've offended partly because they've been victims of domestic abuse. She wants a further amendment to be added to the Bill which would give them legal protection. We also hear from Gisela Valle, Director of the Latin American Women’s Rights Service.And we meet Evie Mackenzie. She's part of a winning school-team, who've discovered a way to cut down on plastic waste. It involves mealworms! We chat to Evie and her teacher Thandiwe Banda.

The Domestic Abuse Bill 2020 is currently making its way through Parliament, and will reach the House of Lords by the end of July. For the first time there will be a statutory definition of domestic abuse. The Centre for Women’s Justice is asking for an amendment to the Bill, to create a free-standing offence of non-fatal strangulation or asphyxiation. We hear from Sandra who was strangled by a former partner and from Nicole Jacobs, the first domestic abuse commissioner for England and Wales, on why she too is calling for this amendment. We discuss the popularity of the skin lightening industry, despite the dangers and controversy? We hear from Nimmi Dosanjh who is Indian-Kenyan and light-skinned. Her 11 year old daughter is dark-skinned, from Linasha Kotalawala who is a beauty and lifestyle blogger and from Geeta Pandey the Editor of BBC News Online India Women and Social Affairs. The actor Roxanne Scrimshaw tells us about the new film Lynn and Lucy about the lives of two best friends in a close-knit community in Essex whose relationship is tested after a tragedy happens A new government report in Ireland shows that 6,666 women accessed abortions there in 2019. This is the first annual report to be published since medical abortion on demand became legal in Ireland up to twelve weeks of pregnancy What do the figures tell us about abortion care in Ireland now? We hear from Ellen Coyne, a journalist at the Irish Independent newspaper and Dr Trish Horgan, a GP in Cork City and member of START - Southern Taskgroup on Abortion and Reproductive Topics.We hear from Dawn Bilbrough the critical care nurse from York who in the early stages of COVID-19 posted an emotional video on social media that went viral. She was appealing to the public to stop panic buying as she was unable to get the basics in her supermarket after her shift ended. She tells us about the impact of the video and what it has been like working on the frontline. Brit Bennett’s new novel, The Vanishing Half tells the story of twin sisters who run away from a black community in the South at the age of 16. One returns to the town they grew up in, while the other passes for white, withholding her identity from her husband. Dr Janine Bradbury, Senior Lecturer in Literature at York St John University, discusses the history of passing novels and films, many of which offer deeply problematic representations of mixed race women. Clare Wenham, Assistant Professor in Global Health Policy at the London School of Economics and Political Science tells us how Panama implemented a state-enforced lockdown, to combat the spread of COVID-19. She explains how the restrictions which were sex-segregated worked.Presenter: Jenni Murray Producer: Rabeka Nurmahomed Editor: Lucinda Montefiore

What do you do when your toddler is a fussy eater? A guide for parents about fussy eating which has been available for over ten years, has just been re-evaluated by 25 mothers. Jenni hears from Amanda, a mother of two daughters, plus one of the academics behind the guide, Claire Farrow, Professor in Children's Eating Behaviour at Aston University, Birmingham.The system of proxy voting for MPs on baby leave is due to expire this summer. Last year, Andrea Leadsom, then Leader of the House of Commons, announced that MPs could take baby leave. Men would get two weeks and women would get six months and they can, if they choose, vote by proxy. So, what is likely to happen now? And what can be done to prevent gender equality in Parliament from being seen as a luxury add-on as the country faces the current health and economic challenges of Covid-19? We hear from Andrea Leadsom MP and Sarah Childs, Professor of Politics and Gender at Royal Holloway, University of London. To everyone else, Terri White appeared to be living the dream. In her thirties, she moved from the UK to New York to edit magazines and went on to become one of Folio's Top Women in US Media. In reality, she was rapidly sliding towards a mental health crisis that would land her in a locked psychiatric ward as her past caught up with her. The now editor-in-chief of Empire magazine describes her time in New York and her traumatic childhood of physical and sexual abuse in a new memoir, 'Coming Undone'. We speak to Dr Janine Bradbury, Senior Lecturer in Literature at York St John University, about the history of 'passing for white' novels and films, many of which offer deeply problematic representations of mixed race women. Books mentioned by Dr Bradbury: The House Behind the Cedars by Charles Chestnutt, Passing by Nella Larsen, Caucasia by Danzy Senna, The Vanishing Half by Britt BennettPresenter: Jenni Murray Producer: Dianne McGregor