Jónína Leósdóttir; Women in Ukraine; Dame Cicely Saunders

What role have women taken in the protests in Ukraine? We look at how their day to day lives have been affected by the stress of political unrest and their hopes and concerns for the future. Jenni is joined by Ukrainian journalist Marina Denyshenko.

Last week Jenni spoke to an entrepreneur and a recruitment manager about kick-starting your career after your children have left home. Several listeners got in touch to say they would love the opportunity to crack on with their careers in their 50s – if only they could find a decent job. Statistics just released by the Unison back this up; more than 33% of women over 50 would like a higher paid job and only 6% feel they have good promotion opportunities. So what’s it like to look for work in our competitive job market when you’re over 50? 

Guests: Helen Walmsley-Johnson, The Guardian’s Invisible Woman columnist, job seeker Dr Susanne Sorensen and Karen Jennings from Unison.

Jónína Leósdóttir is the partner of the former Prime Minister of Iceland, Jóhanna Sigurðardóttir. Ms Sigurðardóttir was Iceland’s first female Prime Minister, holding that position from 2009 to 2012,  and she was the first openly gay head of government in the world. Once she had retired, her partner – Jónína Leósdóttir – wrote a book about their relationship. Neither had had a gay partner before they met and for many years they had to keep their relationship a secret. They had a civil partnership in 2002 and were one of the first couples to have a gay marriage in Iceland in 2010. In the 30 years they’ve been together, attitudes towards LGBT people in Iceland have completely changed.

Rebecca Jarrett (1846-1928) was a former prostitute who helped to raise the age of consent in Victorian England.  She worked with the newspaper editor WilliamStead to expose the existence of white slavery by buying a 13-year old girl for £5. Stead published the story and Victorian society was outraged. As a result of the public outcry, the government passed the Criminal Law Amendment Act 1885, which raised the age of consent from 13 to 16 and clamped down on prostitution.  Dr Victoria Bates, lecturer in modern history from Bristol University tells her story.

Proceedings from the Old Bailey, 19th Oct 1885 

Dame Cicely Saunders was the founder of the modern hospice movement. Her view that death is a natural part of life led her to create a place where the terminally ill could receive sensitive nursing, effective pain control, and be allowed to die with dignity. In 1975 she spoke to presenter Sue McGregor in an interview which you can now hear as part of the Woman’s Hour Archive Collection. 

Jenni also talks to  Dr Katherine Sleeman, Clinical Lecturer in palliative medicine at the Cicely Saunders Institute and Jenny Taylor, who worked as a physiotherapist at St Christophers Hospice, who treated Cecily there before she died.

The Dame Cecily Saunders interview can be heard here.

 Woman’s Hour Archive Collection

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