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Woman's Hour: 'Frock up Friday', Sexual harassment in Parliament, Young Conservative women, Fan Girls, Exercising outside

02/09/2022

'Frock up Friday', Sexual harassment in Parliament, Young Conservative women, Fan Girls, Exercising outside

BBC Radio 4 - Woman's Hour, 'Frock up Friday', Sexual harassment in Parliament, Young Conservative women, Fan Girls, Exercising outside

In three weeks during lockdown, 'Frock up Friday' had 10,000 members worldwide.

'Mother Frockers' Beverli Francis and Suzie Simms share the fabulous outfits their members have donned over the last two years as part of 'Frock up Friday'.

New sexual misconduct allegations have been made about a cabinet minister and a top Number 10 aide who serve at the heart of Boris Johnson's government according to a Sky News investigation. They've published testimony from two women who give detailed, first-hand accounts of what they claim happened to them when one was assaulted and the other groped by political figures who are both now in senior roles. Liz Bates is the political correspondent at Sky News and presenter of the Open Secret Podcast.

The race to be the next Prime Minister comes to an end of Monday, when either Liz Truss or Rishi Sunak will enter Number 10. Ella Robertson McKay has recently interviewed both candidates as the National Chair of the Conservative Young Women group – which represents female party members under the age of 35. Ella joins Anita to discuss what each candidate is offering to young women and what Ella’s members think the winner should prioritise. 

At the start of lockdown in spring 2020 two friends living in Hastings set up a Facebook group for friends to experience the excitement of dressing up on a Friday and  getting read to go out when everybody was forced to stay at home. The “Frock up Friday” movement was born and within three weeks the group had 10,0000 members worldwide and now two years later, they number 15,000 and are still growing. The friends who founded the group call themselves the “Mother Frockers” – Beverli Francis and Suzie Simms – and they’ll be joining Anita Rani this morning to talk about their picture book which details many of the fabulous outfits members share, their festival this weekend for online friends to finally meet up in person, as well as their plans for the future.

In July the healthcare charity Nuffield Health published data which showed that 47% of women had done no vigorous exercise in the past year. It was quickly pointed out that there might be lots of reasons for this - lack of time and money for example but there are other factors too. Every Body Outdoors is a group of women who are determined to fight for clothing and kit which fits them and they want to see larger and plus-sized people out and doing exercise, Charlotte Petts joins 5 of the group in the Brecon Beacons as they walk and talk about their campaign and their experiences. 

In the third and final part of our Woman’s Hour series on Fangirls we ask: Is there a darker side to being a fangirl? We speak to freelance writer Jessica Lucas

Presenter: Anita Rani
Producer: Kirsty Starkey

Interviewed Guest: Liz Bates
Interviewed Guest: Ella Robertson Mckay
Interviewed Guest: Beverli Francis
Interviewed Guest: Suzie Simms
Reporter: Charlotte Petts
Interviewed Guest: Jessica Lucas

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'Frock up Friday', Sexual harassment in Parliament, Young Conservative women, Fan Girls, Exercising outside

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