BBC World Service Online

The Thought Show

Factual

Brings together in a single hour The Why Factor; More or Less and Trending.

The Thought Show: Could you forgive someone that raped or tortured you?

Discussion & Talk

Factual: Life Stories

Forgive_me_edit_shutterstock_529688542.jpg

29/12/2016 GMT

Could you forgive someone that raped or tortured you?

BBC World Service - The Thought Show, Could you forgive someone that raped or tortured you?

Some crimes may seem unforgettable, but can forgiveness help heal the hurt?

Some crimes are so awful, so cruel, it’s impossible to imagine ever being able to say to the wrongdoer, ‘I forgive you’, but could it help heal the hurt?

Could you forgive the person who killed your child or who raped or tortured you? Some crimes, some events are so awful, so cruel, it’s impossible to imagine ever being able to say to the wrongdoer, ‘I forgive you’. Mike Williams hears the stories of those who have experienced unimaginable pain and suffering at the hands of others. And discovers what it feels like to turn anger and desire for revenge against the perpetrators into compassion and understanding for them. What does the act of forgiveness mean to the offender?  Contributors include Kemal Pervanic, a survivor from the Omarska concentration camp during the Bosnian war, a rape survivor and a woman whose ex-husband killed her two children. 


After two decades working in development, Claire Melamed is ready to reveal a secret about her work. Many of the numbers that lie behind life-and-death decisions in developing countries are, as she puts it, “a bit shaky”. If you don’t know how many people live somewhere and who’s dying when of what, you can’t make well-informed decisions to help them. Now she and others are working to change that by getting better data and using it smarter. We hear what that means in  practice and the story of Justice Aheto, whose award-winning mathematical models could also be life-saving for malnourished children in his native Ghana.


Four of the biggest stories on the internet this year divided opinion around the world. We discuss the most popular memes of US Elections, the highlights of the EU referendum in the UK, why people around the world were scared of clowns and how live streaming made its mark on the digital world.


(Photo: Criminal man beg for forgiveness. Credit: Shutterstock)

BBC World Service

BBC World Service Europe and the Middle East

BBC World Service East and Southern Africa Schedule

BBC World Service East and Southern Africa

BBC World Service West and Central Africa Schedule

BBC World Service West and Central Africa

BBC World Service East Asia

BBC World Service South Asia

BBC World Service Australasia

BBC World Service schedule for American satellite radio and the Caribbean

Accessibility links

Programme Index

The Thought Show

Could you forgive someone that raped or tortured you?

Genres

Formats

Brand

BBC World Service Online

About BBC World Service