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Weekend Woman's Hour: Witness Protection, Gender Pension Gap, Big Boobs and Dr Edna Adan Ismali

We hear from a woman who went into witness protection to escape her stalker husband.

A woman who was stalked by her husband and then placed into witness protection with a new identity to escape him, says she feels like she's the one being punished. She's complained to the police about the way her case was handled after being told she failed an assessment and was no longer being supported by them in her new life. She spoke to our reporter Melanie Abbott, and says she felt completely cut adrift. We hear her story of how she had to uproot her two children and start a new life with a new job in a new town, while her husband is free to live wherever he likes. Academic Rachael Wheatley from the university of Derby tells Anita how she is training police to be better at dealing with stalkers and how victims need better support.

A new report by the Trade Union Congress has highlighted a gender pension gap between what men and women are living on in retirement. The estimate it’s currently running at 40.5%, which is more than double the current gender pay gap. Nuala talks to Nikki Pound from the TUC and financial expert Sarah Pennells Consumer finance specialist at Royal London - pensions insurance provider about the issues facing women and possible solutions.

You can’t read a tabloid newspaper without some form of cheating scandal filling the headlines. But what makes someone lie to the person they love? Nuala asks Natalie Lue, a boundaries and relationships coach about the big and little lies we tell in relationships.

Writer and Podcaster Jackie Adedeji speaks to Nuala about her new Channel 4 documentary UNTOLD: My Big Boobs, a look into the impacts of having big boobs and the rise in breast reduction surgery. Sarah Ditum also joins to discuss the cultural trends of breasts through the years.

Dr Edna Adan Ismail is known as the ‘Woman of Firsts’. She’s Somaliland’s first trained midwife, first female Minister of Foreign Affairs, and former First Lady. And now she has added another first to her title. She is this year’s winner of the Templeton Prize - making her the first black African woman to receive the honour. She has been awarded the £1.1 million prize for her contribution to women’s health. In 2002 she sold everything she owned to build The Edna Adan Hospital and University which has played a crucial role in cutting maternal mortality rates in Somaliland. She still lives and works within the hospital. Edna Adan Ismail explains what life is like for women in Somaliland, and what will she spend the prize money on.

Presenter: Anita Rani
Producer: Hanna Ward

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57 minutes

Stalking - Help & Support

Broadcast

  • Sat 3 Jun 2023 16:00

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