Woman's Hour

• Jury-free trials, Endometriosis, WI and transgender women, Scruffy hosting

  Justice Secretary David Lammy has announced plans for a sweeping range of reforms to criminal courts in England and Wales. The proposals include scrapping jury trials for cases where sentences are likely to be less than three years and for trials involving ‘particularly technical and lengthy fraud and financial offences’. They will only be kept for the most serious offences, including murder, robbery and rape. However there are fears that the proposed changes will have a disproportionate impact on women, whether as victims or when accused of a crime and then particularly for women of colour. Nuala McGovern discusses the reforms with Fiona Rutherford, Chief Executive of legal reform charity Justice, barrister Emma Torr, Co-chief of Appeal, a law practice dedicated to challenging wrongful convictions, and Val Castell, Deputy National Chair of the Magistrates’ Association. A petition has been launched calling for a national endometriosis registry to track and audit data on diagnosis, treatment and surgery outcomes. It's been spearheaded by Jessica Smith, who, like an estimated one and a half million women in the UK, suffers with endometriosis, a condition which occurs when the tissue, similar to the lining of the uterus, grows in other places, such as the ovaries and the fallopian tubes. Campaigners say the level of care is a post code lottery, with long wait lists and that by streamlining this information some of the gaps in care could be eliminated. Jessica joins Nuala along with Professor Ranee Thakar, President of the Royal College of Gynaecologists and Obstetricians.The Women's Institute has announced a big change - from next April it will no longer offer membership to transgender women. The UK Supreme Court earlier this year ruled that the legal definition of a woman can only be based on biological sex. This comes the day after it was announced that transgender girls can no longer join the Girl Guides, Brownies or Rainbows. The Women's Institute says it's decision comes with the ‘utmost regret.’ Melissa Green, Chief Executive of the National Federation of Women’s Institutes explains why they came to this decision. The BBC's political correspondent Phil Sim gives the background.Do you like everything to be perfect for Christmas dinner party hosting – the spotless house, the elaborate menu, the Instagram-worthy table setting? But what if the secret to a great dinner party isn’t perfection, but scruffy hosting – a trend that is apparently transforming the way we gather together and makes stress-free dinner parties more attainable - perhaps a one-pot dinner, mismatched cutlery, toys under the table or children running around screaming. Helen Thorn, Comedian, Podcaster and one half of Scummy Mummies tells Nuala why she embraces this type of hosting. Presenter: Nuala McGovern Producer: Andrea Kidd

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• Friendships with exes, Chef Pam, Economic abuse

  Are friendships with exes a bad idea or a sign of growing up? Journalists Olivia Petter and comedian Rosie Wilby join Nuala McGovern to explore how relationships with ex-partners evolve after a breakup, and why staying in touch can look different in straight and LGBTQ+ communities.Global Leaders for Ending Gender-Based Violence (GBV) dedicated to preventing violence against women and girls have come together to form the All In Coalition. This new group is made up of global leaders and survivor advocates including Harriet Harman, the UK's Special Envoy for Women and Girls, and Tarana Burke, founder of the #MeToo movement. We hear from Dr Emma Fulu, who set this up, and Sima Samar, former Minister for Women's Affairs in Afghanistan.There is new data out today from the charity Surviving Economic Abuse which reveals that 27% of mothers (with children under the age of 18) have experienced economic abuse in the past year. We’ll hear more about this common yet often hidden form of abuse and control. Pichaya Soontornyanakij has been named as the world’s best female chef by a panel of more than a thousand food and restaurant experts. She’s the first Asian women to be awarded this title. Known as Chef Pam, she’s also a TV host and culinary judge in her native Thailand. She started out by converting her family home in Bangkok into a restaurant and since then she’s gone on to obtain a coveted Michelin star. And all by the age of 36.  Chef Pam joins us from the Thai capital.Presenter: Nuala McGovern Producer: Kirsty Starkey

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• Former Finland PM Sanna Marin, HIV and women, Left-Handed Girl

  Sanna Marin is the former Prime Minister of Finland who made history as the youngest female head of government in the world. She went on to become the longest-serving female prime minister of Finland, leading a coalition government entirely headed by women. Sanna talks to presenter Clare McDonnell about her rise to the top, leading her country through the challenges of the Covid 19 pandemic and Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, as well as dealing with enormous criticism when her personal life becoming very public – all themes in her new memoir Hope In Action.It’s World Aids Day and the government has just unveiled its new HIV Action Plan with the stated goal of tackling to stigma and end transmissions in England by 2030. Public Health Minister Ashley Dalton joins us to discuss the policy along with Ellie Harrison, who was diagnosed HIV positive when she was 21.With the rise of no and low alcohol drinks on supermarket shelves, a new survey from the University of Plymouth has been talking to expectant mothers about their relationship with these drinks and their understanding of what constitutes a safe percentage. To hear more, Clare is joined by Dr Kate Maslin, Senior Research Fellow in Maternal and Child Health School of Nursing and Midwifery at Plymouth University, who led the study.Filmmaker Shih Ching Tsou’s debut feature Left Handed Girl tells the story of a single mother, Shu-Fen, and her two daughters who move to Taipei, Taiwan to open a night-market stall. When I-Jing, the younger, five-year old daughter – who is left-handed - is forbidden from using what her traditional grandfather dubs her ‘devil hand,’ a chain of events is set in motion, which eventually unravels a family secret. Tsou joins Clare to talk about directing and co-writing the drama which is inspired by her own childhood, cultural superstition about the left hand and the lives of working-class Taiwanese women.Presented by: Clare McDonnell Produced by: Sarah Jane Griffiths

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• Weekend Woman’s Hour: Kids social media ban in Australia, Cassa Pancho, Rage rooms, Camille O’Sullivan

  Australia’s under-16 social media ban comes into force soon. From 10th December, platforms must take 'reasonable steps' to stop under-16s from opening accounts and remove accounts that already belong to them. Companies who fail to comply could face fines of up to £25m. BBC Sydney correspondent Katy Watson has been talking to teenagers in the state of Victoria. She explains how we got here and updates us on a new legal action being brought to challenge the ban.Cassa Pancho founded Ballet Black in 2001, aged 21, in response to there being no black or Asian women performing in any of the UK’s ballet companies. This week Ballet Black conclude their UK tour of SHADOWS at London's Sadler's Wells and features as part of its double bill Cassa's adaptation of Oyinkan Braithwaite’s international bestselling novel, My Sister, The Serial Killer.Have you heard of rage rooms? Or even visited one? Turns out demand for them is surging, and 90% of the UK customers are women. Believed to have started in Japan in the early 2000s, rage rooms are places where people can smash up items such as electronics, white goods and crockery. Nuala McGovern is joined by Jennifer Cox, psychotherapist and author of Women are Angry: Why Your Rage is Hiding and How To Let It Out, and culture journalist Isobel Lewis who has visited a rage retreat.Camille O’Sullivan has toured with the Pogues and was chosen by Yoko Ono to perform at Meltdown festival in the Royal Festival Hall – now the Irish-French singer is bringing her hit show to the Soho Theatre in London. LoveLetter is a personal response to the loss of the artists who inspired her - particularly her late friends Shane McGowan and Sinéad O’Connor. Presenter: Anita Rani Producer: Annette Wells

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• Adoption, Camille O'Sullivan, Wicked

  The complex needs of adopted children are leaving parents at breaking point as they say they are being denied support then blamed by authorities when they can no longer cope, a BBC investigation has found. A BBC Freedom of Information request revealed the scale of the crisis, and the number of families that are returning their children to the care system. Anita Rani is joined by BBC special correspondent Judith Moritz and Fiona Wells who runs PATCH, Passionate Adopters Targeting Change with Hope, a support group for adoptive parents.For the last two years, the mystery of exactly what happened at Erin Patterson's dining table had gripped the world. And then in September this year, after a nine-week trial, Erin Patterson was jailed for life - with no chance of release for at least 33 years. Her crime: murdering three relatives by intentionally poisoning them with wild mushrooms and trying to kill another. Dubbed the ‘Mushroom Murders’, Anita speaks to Sarah Krasnostein, who wrote a book about Erin’s trial, and Dr Stephanie Brown, a historical criminologist, to understand the public view of women who poison.Camille O’Sullivan has toured with the Pogues and was chosen by Yoko Ono to perform at Meltdown festival in the Royal Festival Hall. Now the Irish-French singer is bringing her hit show to the Soho Theatre in London. LoveLetter is a personal response to the loss of the artists who inspired her, particularly her late friends Shane McGowan and Sinéad O’Connor. The second part of the hugely popular film Wicked - called Wicked: For good, starring Cynthia Erivo and Ariana Grande, continues to take the UK and the world by storm. It's already taken over $226m at the global box office. Telling an alternative version of the Wizard of Oz, it explores how our perception of good and evil can be distorted. It's also the story of the unlikely friendship between Elphaba and Glinda and the tensions that can be put on that friendship. Anita is joined by the Independent's chief album critic Helen Brown and film critic Leila Latif to discuss why Wicked has been so successful and what it tell us about female friendships today. Presenter: Anita Rani Producer: Corinna Jones

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