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Woman's Hour

Weekend Woman’s Hour: Afghanistan, RFU President Deborah Griffin, Pregnancy sickness, Goalkeeper Hannah Hampton

Woman's Hour

BBC

Society & Culture, Health & Fitness, Personal Journals

4.22.9K Ratings

🗓️ 16 August 2025

⏱️ 57 minutes

🧾️ Download transcript

Summary

Four years after Taliban fighters retook the capital Kabul on 15 August 2021, UN Women, the gender equality agency, is warning that the situation for women and girls in Afghanistan is increasingly untenable. They say without urgent action, this untenable reality will become normalised and women and girls will be fully excluded. To discuss further Anita Rani was joined by Fawzia Koofi, former deputy speaker of the Afghan Parliament & peace negotiator, and BBC senior Afghan reporter Mahjooba Nowrouzi, recently returned from Afghanistan.

As rugby fans across the UK look forward to the Women’s Rugby World Cup, Anita speaks with rugby trailblazer Deborah Griffin. An amateur player since university, Deborah co-organised the first ever Women’s Rugby World Cup, held in Wales in 1991. Earlier this month, she became the first woman to take up the role of President of the Rugby Football Union.

A woman in Wales who felt forced to terminate her pregnancy after being unable to access the anti-sickness medication she needed is calling for the drug to be made more widely available. Sarah Spooner was suffering from hyperemesis gravidarum which left her vomiting more than 20 times per day and unable to eat or drink. But she found it virtually impossible to access Xonvea, a medication which is recommended as a first-line treatment in England but not in Wales. Nuala McGovern hears Sarah's story, and speaks to Dr Caitlin Dean from Pregnancy Sickness Support about why there is a postcode lottery across the UK for women needing Xonvea.

Emma Holten tells us we need a feminist revolution. The author has spent years investigating the true value of care - and how rethinking it could transform our societies. Her debut book, Deficit: How Feminist Economics Can Change Our World, examines how mainstream economics systematically undervalues care work and advocates for reshaping policy to reflect its true worth.

England goalkeeper and Lionesses legend Hannah Hampton joins Nuala on Woman's Hour fresh from winning the UEFA European Women's Championship. Born with a serious eye condition, doctors told her she should never play football. She came into the recent Euros with questions over her ability to fill the gloves of recently retired Mary Earps. To add to that, she revealed her grandfather had died just days before the biggest tournament of her life began earlier this summer. Despite this, Hannah had an extraordinary tournament, particularly in those agonising penalty shootouts. She joined Nuala to chat all about it.

Presenter: Anita Rani Producer: Annette Wells Editor: Emma Pearce

Transcript

Click on a timestamp to play from that location

0:00.0

BBC Sounds, Music, Radio, podcasts.

0:05.1

Hello, I'm Anita Rani and welcome to Women's Hour from BBC Radio 4.

0:10.1

Hello and welcome.

0:11.8

Coming up some of the highlights from this week.

0:14.7

Ahead of the Women's Rugby World Cup, which begins next week,

0:17.4

I talked to Deborah Griffin, who co-organised the very first women's rugby

0:22.4

World Cup back in 1991. We hear from one woman whose severe pregnancy sickness was so bad. She

0:29.8

says she had to have a termination. She's calling for better care for women who are suffering

0:34.8

like she did. Emma Holton makes the case for how she thinks feminist economics can change the world in her new book, Deficit.

0:43.0

Where Does Value Lie and Why?

0:45.4

Also football, England's goalkeeper Hannah Hampton on taking on the mantle of the number one shirt on winning the Euros and how she kept her cool during those intense penalty shootouts.

0:55.5

People say keepers are crazy. I disagree, you know. I'm quite normal. I like to think.

1:02.1

Goldcum is a unique position. It's a very individual position and one that requires a lot of

1:07.4

resilient determination. But look, it's a great position at the same time. It feels you with so much joy. I've played with a smile on my face because I enjoy it so much. So if it's what little girls, little boys want to go and do it, then I say go do it. If it's your dream, you go follow it and you do whatever puts that smile on your face because life's hard in the best of times. Lots to get into, so let's begin.

1:29.4

First, four years after Taliban fighters retook the capital Kabul on the 15th of August 2021,

1:37.2

UN Women, the Gender Equality Agency, is warning that the situation for women and girls in Afghanistan

1:42.8

is increasingly untenable.

1:45.5

They say without urgent action, this untenable reality will become normalized and women and girls

1:51.7

will be fully excluded. The report says after four years and waves of directives, Afghan women and

1:58.5

girls have been stripped of their rights. Women are living shorter, less

2:02.6

healthy lives. Maternal mortality risks and child marriage rates are rising and violence against women

2:08.6

is growing unchecked. The state of women's rights in Afghanistan has made it the country

...

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