Woman's Hour

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Women's voices and women's lives - topical conversations to inform, challenge and inspire.

Helena Merriman, Women in Sudan, Pardons for women tried as witches

BBC Radio 4 LW

Woman's Hour: Helena Merriman, Bus driver Tracey Scholes, Pardons for women tried as witches

Helena Merriman, Bus driver Tracey Scholes, Pardons for women tried as witches

BBC Radio 4 - Woman's Hour, Helena Merriman, Bus driver Tracey Scholes, Pardons for women tried as witches

The presenter of Room 5 and Tunnel 29 on her own life-changing medical diagnosis.

Three years ago, BBC radio broadcaster Helena Merriman received a shock diagnosis related to hearing loss after giving birth to her son. This prompted her to explore how people handle life-changing news about their health in a new radio series called Room 5 that airs on Radio 4 this week. Helena joins Emma to discuss the power of resilience.

One of the first female bus drivers in the UK says she is fighting to keep her job after a new bus design left her unable to reach the pedals.  Emma speaks to Tracey Scholes from Manchester who says that because of her height - five feet - she can no longer drive the new buses safely.  The bus company involved say other staff of a similar height to Tracey are able to drive the vehicles safely.  

New figures from the Office of National Statistics show that an estimated 1.3 million people in the UK have "long Covid" – defined as symptoms lasting more than four weeks. We know that women are more likely to be affected by long Covid, and that it can also occur in children. Dr Nisreen Alwan is Associate Professor in Public Health at the University of Southampton.

In Sudan, thousands of people have again taken to the streets of the capital, Khartoum, to protest against military rule, following the resignation of Prime Minister Abdalla Hamdok. Reports from medics on the ground say more than 50 people have lost their lives since a military coup took place in October last year. For several years, there has been continued unrest in the country, and headlines around the world have shown women at the forefront of the revolution and pro-democracy movement - but is that the full story? And how are things for women there now? Raga Makawi, a Sudanese democracy activist and editor at African Arguments and Will Ross, the BBC's Africa Editor join Emma.

Almost 300 years after the Witchcraft Acts were repealed, a bill has been bought forward in the Scottish parliament to pardon those convicted. This comes after a two-year campaign to clear the names of nearly 4,000 people accused of witchcraft, of whom well over half were executed. Zoe Venditozzi co-founded the campaign and co-hosts the Witches of Scotland podcast. Marion Gibson is Professor of Renaissance and Magical Literatures at the University of Essex and author of Witchcraft: the basics.

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Helena Merriman, Bus driver Tracey Scholes, Pardons for women tried as witches

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