Woman's Hour - Weekend Woman's Hour: Forced adoptions, Author Paula Byrne, Is rugby safe?, Stalking and heart disease, Wool Sourcing
The former Prime Minister Gordon Brown has added his voice to calls for an apology for what he has called the state's role in the "terrible tragedy" of historic forced adoptions. Between 1949 and 1976, thousands of pregnant women and girls in the UK were sent away to "prison-like" homes run by the church and state and had their babies put up for adoption. In 2021, an inquiry concluded that the State bore ultimate responsibility for the suffering inflicted on vulnerable women and their children, calling on the government to issue an official apology. Anna Foster was joined by Diana Defries, chair of the Movement for Adoption Apology and Karen Constantine, author of Taken, experiences of forced adoption, to give their reaction to the intervention by the former PM and whether they will be granted an apology.
Paula Byrne, Jane Austen’s biographer and also a novelist, has spent 25 years researching and writing about the iconic author. In this 250th anniversary year of Austen's birth, she joined Kylie Pentelow to talk about her new novel, Six Weeks by the Sea, which is her first fictional treatment of Austen and tells the story of how she imagines the most famous romance writer of all time first fell in love.
If you’ve been watching any of the Women’s Rugby World Cup you may have seen ‘high tech mouthguards being used. They will now flash red — signally potentially high impacts, requiring players to have a head injury assessment - a move aimed at improving player safety. So just how safe is it for women to play rugby? What are the risks of getting injured, and what is being done to mitigate those risks? We hear from Fi Tomas, women’s sports reporter at the Telegraph, Dr Izzy Moore, reader in human movement and sports medicine at Cardiff Metropolitan University and Welsh Ruby Union injury surveillance project lead, and Dr Anna Stodter, senior lecturer in sport coaching at Leeds Beckett University, former Sottish International player, who also coaches the university team.
After learning about the threat to harvest mice in the UK, 13 year old friends Eva and Emily decided to breed 250 of them at home and release them into a local nature reserve - with the help of a crowdfunder and Chris Packham.
Women who've been stalked, or had to take out a restraining order, have a much higher chance of suffering a heart attack or stroke, according to a new study from Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health. It followed a group of over 66,000 women across 10 years, and found those who'd been stalked were 41% more likely to develop cardiovascular disease, with those who'd taken out a restraining orders 71% more likely to have heart problems. Kylie talked to Dr Audrey Murchland, one of the lead researchers who carried out the study, about their findings.
Justine Lee is a knitwear designer of 30 years who fell out of love with fast fashion. Her latest work focuses on helping to protect the future of British rare breed sheep. She works with shepherds and wool producers, mostly women, and has knitted swatches from all 62 rare-breed sheep to show the versatility of the wool. She joined Anita Rani to discuss her work with farmers, her knitwear designs and her new book which showcases the wool.
Presenter: Kylie Pentelow
Producer: Annette Wells
Editor: Corinna Jones
Published on Monday, 1st September 2025.
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