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Woman's Hour

Spiking, The pill, Family dynamics at Christmas

Woman's Hour

BBC

Society & Culture

4.13K Ratings

🗓️ 21 December 2023

⏱️ 58 minutes

🧾️ Download transcript

Summary

The Met Police have reported that cases of spiking - putting alcohol or drugs into another person's drink or body without their consent - have quadrupled in London over the last five years. This week the Home Office set out new provisions to provide training for venue staff and test-kits for customers. Campaigner Sharon Gaffka joins Jessica Creighton to talk about whether that's enough for spiking victims.

As we gear up for Christmas, some people might be considering the age-old question: How do you survive the big day without falling out with your family? With unwanted questions about your parenting style, your career or even your love life - tensions can often rise over the brussels sprouts. Camilla McGill is a parent coach and joins Jessica to give us tips on how to manage anxieties and stress with loved ones.

A 16-year-old girl died last week from what is thought to have been a blood clot - three weeks after being prescribed the contraceptive pill. According to the NHS, there is a very low risk of serious side effects from taking the pill. Dr Janet Barter is a consultant in sexual and reproductive health at Barts Health NHS Trust in London – she tells Jessica the facts we need to know around the pill.

Last year, female-owned businesses received just 2% of all venture capital funding, Parliament’s Treasury Committee found. Entrepreneur Grace Beverley wants to raise awareness of the female funding gap. She joins Jessica to talk about her business model and using her platform to empower women.

If you are a woman who is adopted, then the decision to have children of your own can be a complicated one, as your own birth family’s medical history may be a mystery to you. How do you know what you are passing on through your genes? Writer and journalist Katharine Quarmby has been looking into this issue because she has had to grapple with it herself. She joins Jessica to discuss.

Presenter: Jessica Creighton Producer: Lottie Garton

Transcript

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0:00.0

You're about to listen to a BBC podcast and I'd like to tell you a bit about the

0:03.8

podcast I work on. I'm Dan Clark and I commissioned factual podcasts at the BBC.

0:08.6

It's a massive area but I'd sum it up as stories to help us make sense of the forces shaping the world.

0:15.3

What podcasting does is give us the space and the time to take brilliant BBC journalism

0:19.8

and tell amazing compelling stories that really get behind the headlines.

0:23.7

And what I get really excited about is when we find a way of drawing you into a subject

0:28.4

you might not even have thought you were interested in.

0:30.2

Whether it's investigations, science, tech, politics, culture, true crime, the environment,

0:36.1

you can always discover more with a podcast on BBC Sounds.

0:39.7

BBC Sounds, music, radio podcasts.

0:45.0

Hello, I'm Jessica Krieton.

0:47.0

Welcome to the Woman's Hour Podcast.

0:49.0

Good morning and welcome to the program.

0:51.0

Now we're already midway through the week and of course Christmas is getting nearer and nearer.

0:58.0

Of course it can be an exciting time for many people, but it can also be a very stressful time particularly if you're expecting to have

1:04.8

those invasive questions thrown at you over Christmas dinner. Now you might

1:09.8

have experienced those shall we say inquisitive family members, bombarding you with questions about

1:15.7

your career or your parenting style, or even your love life, or lack thereof for some people.

1:23.0

And when the criticism comes,

1:25.0

how do you handle it?

1:27.0

That's the question I'm asking you this morning.

1:30.0

What types of prying questions have you been asked by family members at Christmas?

...

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