Weekend Woman's Hour: Iranian schoolgirls, the womb, Cynthia Erivo, No More Page 3, UK marriage law changes

Woman's Hour

BBC

Society & Culture, Health & Fitness, Personal Journals

4.2 • 2.9K Ratings

🗓️ 4 March 2023

⏱️ 57 minutes

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Summary

Schoolgirls in Iran have been admitted to hospital this week after reportedly being poisoned by gas whilst at school. Many Iranians suspect the poisonings are a deliberate attempt to force girls’ schools to close, although the government has not confirmed. Faranak Amidi, BBC Near East Women's Affairs correspondent and Azadeh Pourzand, human rights researcher at SOAS discuss. In new book Womb: The Inside Story of Where We All Began, NHS midwife Leah Hazard seeks to explore the organ she describes as 'woefully under-researched and misunderstood'. She shares what she has learnt from looking into the womb’s past, present and possible future. Actor and singer Cynthia Erivo discusses her role in the upcoming film, Luther: The Fallen Sun, where she appears opposite Idris Elba. She shares her experience working on the movie version of the musical Wicked, playing the lead role of Elphaba, her 2020 oscar-nominated performance as Harriet Tubman, and her new found liberation in expressing her bisexuality. Jo Cheetham was studying for a PhD and working as a nanny in London when she read news of an upcoming protest. Before she could talk herself out of it, Jo joined the No More Page 3 campaign team. We discuss her new memoir, Killjoy. Jo talks to us about the power of a grassroots campaign and everyday people doing extraordinary things. On Monday, the Marriage and Civil Partnership (Minimum Age) Act came into effect, raising the age of marriage and civil partnership to 18 in England and Wales. It's what campaigners against child and forced marriage have worked towards for many years. We reflect on this social change with two listeners, Judith and Jeanette who willingly got married at 16. Presenter: Anita Rani Producer: Surya Elango Editor: Louise Corley

Transcript

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0:00.0	BBC Sounds, Music, Radio, Podcasts
0:30.0	Power to Create Life or Indeed Death in certain circumstances.
0:34.2	What am I talking about? The Womb.
0:36.8	Plus, as this week marked a change in the marriage laws in England and Wales,
0:41.1	we hear from two woman's hour listeners on getting married willingly at 16.
0:45.3	Did it work? Or was it a decision? They came to regret.
0:49.0	And all week we've been celebrating Riot Girls and campaigning women.
0:53.2	We listen back to our interview with Joe Cheatham on joining the No More Page 3 campaign team
0:58.7	growing up in Rotterdam and the power of grassroots campaigns.
1:02.3	But first, dozens of schoolgirls in Iran have been admitted to hospital this week
1:07.2	after being poisoned whilst at school, according to reports from an Iranian news agency.
1:12.4	More than a thousand students have been affected since November.
1:15.6	They've suffered respiratory problems, nausea, dizziness and fatigue.
1:20.0	Many Iranians suspect the Poisonings are a deliberate attempt to force girls
1:24.0	schools to close and prevent them from going to school.
1:27.1	The Iranian government has not said whether it believes they're premeditated.
1:31.6	While on Friday, I spoke to Azadeh Pozand, a human rights researcher and Fairnac
1:36.3	Amidee, BBC correspondent. I started by asking Fairnac,
1:40.3	what do we know about what's happening to these schoolgirls?
1:43.2	Basically, we really don't know much because there hasn't been a proper investigation
1:49.9	into what has been happening. The Poisonings started around three months ago.
1:56.2	That was in November. It started the first school that the incident took place in
	...

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