On Saturday Iran's Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei was killed after Israel and the US launched a "massive" and ongoing attack against Iran's leadership and military. US President Donald Trump urged Iranian forces to lay down their arms, and for Iran's people to rise up against its government. Iran has responded by firing ballistic missiles and drones at US assets and allies across the region. Whilst huge questions still remain about what will happen next in this conflict, on Woman's Hour today we ask what this moment might mean for women in Iran. Nuala McGovern is joined by BBC Persian reporter Ghoncheh Habibiazad and international human rights lawyer Azadeh Zabeti, Co-President of the Committee of Anglo-Iranian Lawyers.
Mary Ann Evans is better known by her pseudonym George Eliot. She's the author of many important novels including Middlemarch, Silas Marner, and Mill on the Floss, which brings the issue of women’s education to the fore. A new play, Bird Grove, the name of George Eliot's home, has just opened at the Hampstead Theatre in London. When we meet Mary Ann she has not yet started writing fiction, but beginning to have her mind opened to progressive new ideas. Nuala finds out more with the play's director, Anna Ledwich, and actor Elizabeth Dulau who plays Mary Ann Evans.
According to the NGO International Justice Mission, child sexual abuse that takes place on social media and other online platforms is one of the fastest‑growing yet least‑detected types of child abuse globally. Offenders pay to direct the real‑time sexual exploitation of children via any internet‑connected, camera‑enabled device. Most identified victims are in the Philippines and the UK is among the top three countries consuming this material, with the United States at number one. Nuala is joined by Molly Hudson from the International Justice Mission, and Sharon Pursey, co‑founder of SafeToNet, a British online safety technology company.
Kate Pickett is Professor of Epidemiology at the University of York. Her new book is The Good Society and How We Make It and in it she looks at ideas she believes will build a better society and says we “can’t afford to nibble” when it comes to solving some of the big issues we are facing.
Presenter: Nuala McGovern Producer: Andrea Kidd