大象传媒

Five players have been shortlisted for the 大象传媒 Women's Footballer of the Year 2018 award, and voting is now open. We speak to 大象传媒 Sport presenter Sarah Mulkerrins about the nominees, and changing attitudes towards women's football.

We continue our look at Ireland's referendum on abortion coming up on May 25th. People will be asked if they want to change the law: vote YES, and you want to
change the 8th Amendment of the Irish Constitution which states that a pregnant mother and a foetus have the same rights, and abortion's only allowed if a mother's life is at risk. We'll hear from Senator Catherine Noone who chaired the committee on the 8th Amendment. She'll be discussing the difficulties of doing that.

Emma Healey's first novel was a Sunday Times bestseller and won the Costa First Novel Award 2014. She's now written a new novel - Whistle in the Dark - a gripping account, told from the perspective of a mother whose fifteen-year-old daughter goes missing for four agonizing days. When Lana is found, unharmed, everyone thinks the worst is over. Emma joins Jane in the studio.

With the local elections having just been held Woman's Hour looks at what makes a woman decide to enter the political fray? We've been following two women who stood as councillors for the first time. We'll hear from each of them about what led them to take the decision to stand and next week you'll hear the reality of their experiences while on the campaign trail, and they'll join us to pass on tips to other women considering participating in local politics. Abiola Kingsley-Osaiga stood as a Conservative councillor in the safe Labour Larkhall Ward in Lambeth, London. She's a lawyer, working for Westminster Council but is currently on maternity leave as she gave birth to her first child in the middle of her campaign - just seven weeks ago. Felicity Finch met her at home as the campaign was about to start hotting up.

The annual Churchill Fellowships give opportunities for UK citizens to explore a wide range of issues, including many that affect women, such as homelessness, families, wellbeing and health by discovering new ideas and best practice overseas. Applications for 2019 are now being accepted but this year 61% were won by women. Jane speaks to three of the women who successfully applied. Samantha who is looking at girls and women affected by gang violence. Laura is researching ways of identifying children at risk of online abuse and Clare wants to explore the use of mindfulness interventions for people that self-harm.

Presenter: Jane Garvey
Producer: Kirsty Starkey.