Woman's Hour

Brigitte Macron, wife of French President Emmanuel Macron, has accused ten people of posting malicious comments about her, claiming she was a born a man, something Macron says is completely untrue. Her case is in court in France today and, if found guilty, the eight men and two women standing trial could face up to two years in prison. Sophie Pedder, Paris Bureau Chief at The Economist and Sarah Ditum, columnist at The Times, expla...

The Essex witch trials represent one of the darkest chapters in British history. A new Sky History series, Witches of Essex, revisits the real lives of women accused of witchcraft in the 16th and 17th centuries, drawing on newly examined court records and the latest historical research. Historian Dr Eleanor Janega joins Nuala McGovern to discuss.

A landmark change to the Family Courts has been announced this week - the court will no...

50 years ago today - in 1975 - 90% of women in Iceland took part in a nationwide protest over inequality. Instead of going to the office, doing housework or childcare, 25,000 women took to the streets, forcing factories and banks to close. It was known as the 'Women's Day Off' and fifty years on, Iceland still leads the world in gender parity, topping the Global Gender Gap Report for the 16th straight year. Anita Rani is joined by ...

Secretary of State for Health and Social Care Wes Streeting joins Anita Rani to announce new government policy on women’s health.

Anita speaks to Amy Wallace, the writer and journalist who worked with Virginia Giuffre on her posthumously published memoir Nobody’s Girl. After two years of conversations, emails and extensive fact-checking, the book lays bare the life-wrecking impact of power, corruption and industrial-scale sex abuse...

We’ve heard about the placebo effect, when belief in a treatment makes us feel better, but what do you know about the nocebo effect? It’s when our negative expectations of a treatment, medicine or procedure - or even mistrust of our health care services - can actually make us feel worse. And it’s a growing area of scientific research. Professor Giuliana Mazzoni from the Department of Psychodynamics and Clinical Psychology at the U...

Two sexual abuse survivors have resigned from their roles on the national inquiry into grooming gangs. Fiona Goddard and Ellie Reynolds both stood down from the victims' liaison panel which was overseeing the process. Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer announced in the summer that there would be a full national statutory inquiry into grooming gangs covering England and Wales. Ellie Reynolds joins Nuala McGovern.

Lily King is the award ...

The government has announced an independent inquiry into repeated failings in maternity services at Leeds Teaching Hospitals NHS Trust. Earlier this year, a BBC investigation revealed that the deaths of at least 56 babies and two mothers over the past five years at the Trust could perhaps have been avoided. BBC correspondent Divya Talwar joins Nuala McGovern, alongside Lauren Caulfield and Amarjit Kaur Matharoo, who both tragically...

Half of working dads feel nervous asking for time off to care for their children, more than 20% have been asked ‘where’s your wife/partner?’ when requesting flexibility and 44% say employers treat mothers more favourably in terms of flexible working. These are the findings of a new study ‘Barriers to Equal Parenting’ by the charity Working Families. Nuala McGovern is joined by Elliott Rae founder of Parenting Out Loud and Penny Eas...

Tilda Swinton is one of the UK’s most singular and celebrated performers. Over four decades she has delivered unforgettable and varied screen performances, notably Orlando, The Chronicles of Narnia, Michael Clayton and Asteroid City and collaborated with artists and filmmakers. She joins Anita Rani to talk about a new exhibition in Amsterdam celebrating her work and the enduring relationships that have inspired her.

According to th...

A major UK group litigation has been launched against Johnson & Johnson, involving approximately 3,000 claimants who allege they developed cancers due to asbestos-contaminated talc products. The company is accused of negligence and deceit. Johnson & Johnson deny the allegations. The BBC Health reporter, Chloe Hayward, joins Anita Rani to talk about what is known so far.

Surrogacy and its impact is the subject of a new report...

Only about 20% of UK tech workers are women. That's from a study by WeAreTechWomen & management consultants Oliver Wyman, which also found between 40,000 and 60,000 women leave the UK’s tech sector every year, costing the economy an estimated £2 to £3.5 billion annually. Across the UK this week, a series of events is taking place celebrating British women in tech and Nuala McGovern talks to Secretary of State for Science, Innov...

Bobbi Brown is a make-up artist turned entrepreneur who created her now famous eponymous line in 1990. Her fresh-faced approach went against 80s and 90s trends at the time for bright colour and contouring and instead aimed to celebrate and enhance women’s natural beauty. She made millions selling her brand to Estée Lauder and has gone on to create a new multimillion brand. On the release of her memoir, she joins Nuala McGovern to t...

Half of working dads feel nervous asking for time off to care for their children, more than 20% have been asked ‘where’s your wife/partner?’ when requesting flexibility and 44% say employers treat mothers more favourably in terms of flexible working. These are the findings of a new study ‘Barriers to Equal Parenting’ by the charity Working Families. Nuala McGovern is joined by Elliott Rae founder of Parenting Out Loud and Penny Eas...

100m sprinter Bebe Jackson, 19, won a bronze medal on her debut at the IPC World Para Athletics Championships in Delhi, India, last week. Bebe was born with congenital talipes equinovarus, widely known as club foot, and when she’s not competing for Britain, she works nights caring for children with complex disabilities. She tells Anita Rani how she does it.

In Sally Wainwright’s new BBC drama Riot Women, a group of women in mid-life...

A court in southern France has increased the jail term of the only man who challenged his conviction for raping Gisèle Pelicot. Gisèle was drugged by her then-husband Dominique for over a decade and raped by dozens of men he recruited on the internet. Of the 51 men convicted of abusing Gisèle, 44-year-old Husamettin Dogan was the only one who appealed against his verdict. Anita Rani speaks to Angelique Chrisafis, Paris Corresponden...

NB: The music in this broadcast has been removed from this podcast for rights reasons.

In Sally Wainwright’s new BBC drama Riot Women, a group of women in mid-life escape the pressures of caring for parents and kids - and the menopause - by forming a rock band. Rosalie Craig stars as the incredible singer that brings them together. Anita Rani talks to Sally and actor Rosalie about the power of female friendship.

The ongoing Covid-1...

As Kemi Badenoch prepares to address Conservative Party conference for the second time this week, Nuala McGovern reflects on her first year as leader of the party and Leader of the Opposition, with BBC political correspondent Georgia Roberts and Conservative peer Baroness Kate Fall.

The People's Tribunal for Women in Afghanistan is convening in Madrid this week to investigate Taliban crimes against women. Since the Taliban’s return ...

Elon Musk's Artificial Intelligence company xAI recently introduced two sexually explicit chatbots. He's a high-profile presence in a growing field where developers are banking on users interacting and forming intimate relationships with the AI chatbots. Nuala McGovern speaks to journalist Amelia Gentleman, who has just returned from an adult industry conference in Prague, where she saw a sharp rise in new websites offering an inc...