Concerns that the criminal justice system is not responsive enough to the specific needs of women are longstanding. In June 2018 the government published its Female Offender Strategy. It sought to reduce crime, pressure on services and the cost of dealing with women in the CJS, and to improve outcomes for women at all points in the system. The National Audit Office have just released a report examining the success of that strategy so far and are critical of the government’s efforts in implementing it. Kate Paradine, Chief Executive of Women in Prison joins Emma.

Midwives are under a ‘worrying amount’ of pressure and are being ‘dangerously overworked’ according to former NHS midwife, Piroska Cavell. According to a survey by the Royal College of Midwives from October 2021, over half of their members considering leaving the profession due to the current situation. Emma speaks to Piroska about her own experience of being a midwife on the front line and Royal College of Midwives’ Dr Mary Ross-Davie about the challenges facing maternity services.

Nineteen year old Zara Rutherford has become the youngest woman ever to fly solo around the world. Her journey spanned 5 months, 32,000 miles and five continents. And to top it all she only got her pilot’s licence two years ago.

Who is Annalena Baerbock? The new German foreign minister met with her Russian counterpart Sergei Lavrov last week in Moscow, and delivered a warning that her country was prepared to pay a high price to defend its values, if Russia invades Ukraine. Why is her role in the diplomacy significant, and how did she become Germany’s first female foreign minister? Emma speaks to Michaela Kuefner, Chief Political Editor at Deutsche Welle.

Presenter: Emma Barnett

Interviewed Guest: Piroska Cavell