The 51%

In this special edition, Annette Young heads to Avignon as the Pelicot case enters its closing stages. For nearly a decade, Gisèle Pelicot was regularly drugged by her husband and offered up to strangers for sex. Now seen as the most notorious rape trial ever to be held in this country, we meet the local women who offer their support to the 72-year-old grandmother by decorating Avignon’s streets with slogans. Annette Young also talks to Catherine Porter from The New York Times, who’s been covering the trial, about how this case is shifting societal attitudes. Plus we report on the growing pressure on French authorities to address the issue of drug-facilitated sexual assault.

A spike in violence in Sudan's civil war sees a rise in the number of women and girls being raped by paramilitary Rapid Support Forces in the east of the country. Also what happens when men outnumber women in some cases as high as 25 percent in parts of eastern Germany, where young women have left for better opportunities elsewhere and how the far right stands to benefit. Plus taking on the high seas; we meet the 23-year-old French woman who's competing in the iconic solo yachting race, the Vendée Globe.

What will Donald Trump's second term in the White House mean for women in America and how abortion rights will not be the only area under attack. Also what does the Trump victory mean for the war in Ukraine; Annette Young asks veteran war correspondent, Janine di Giovanni, who is now with The Reckoning Project which teaches journalists how to collect testimonies that can be used in war crimes trials. Plus human rights activists call on Iranian authorities to release a young student who was arrested after stripping to her underwear in what is said to be a protest against the compulsory hijab laws.

In a special edition, we're focusing on the US presidential election, which is no doubt the most momentous election ever for American women in the nation's history with the demise of Roe v. Wade in 2022. We are also witnessing a particularly large gender voting gap, with more men leaning towards the Republicans' Donald Trump, while the Democrats’ Kamala Harris is attracting a greater number of female voters. So how will this gender gap impact voting? Is America going to have its first-ever woman president and a woman of colour at that? Or is Donald Trump and his hardline conservative views on gender equality going to get a second term in the White House with all of its implications for the future of democracy? Annette Young is joined by author, Ellen Kountz; Dan Hazelwood, a Republican strategist and Carter Sherman, the reproductive health reporter for The Guardian US.

She is now probably the most famous French woman in the world. Gisèle Pelicot, the 72-year-old grandmother who was drugged unconscious so her husband and scores of other men could rape her, once again gives evidence at her rape trial. Also why ageism is never in style; Annette Young meets Jacynth Bassett, the woman behind the consultancy who is challenging outdated stereotypes. Plus with more women in work than ever before in Ivory Coast, the need for childcare has become paramount but the cost of privately-run crèches is way beyond the reach of most families.

So was Miss Moneypenny, as she was referred to in James Bond novels and films, a real person? It turns out, yes. Annette Young talks to Dr Claire Hubbard-Hall, the author of 'Her Secret Service: The Forgotten Women of British Intelligence' about the woman who inspired the character and why women do make better spies. Also as femicide continues to be a serious problem across the globe, a highly moving story of a French woman who miraculously managed to escape being killed by her ex-boyfriend. Plus how a comic strip is helping to shatter taboos about menstruation for schoolchildren in the Democratic Republic of Congo.

This week, we're focusing on the upcoming US presidential election with the battle over abortion rights very much becoming front and centre of the campaign. It is the first election since the US Supreme Court's decision to overturn Roe v. Wade in 2022 which has dramatically impacted women's access to abortion; with 21 states now banning abortion or restricting the procedure earlier in pregnancy. Our colleagues at France 2 Television went to talk to women in several southern states seeking a termination and how they are affected by the political divisiveness. Also Annette Young talks to Holly Baxter, Executive Editor for Social Justice and Equity for The Independent who's been following the campaign closely.

In a special edition, we take a look at several high-profile cases of rape and sexual violence which have made headlines in recent weeks including the Gisèle Pelicot trial in France. For nearly 10 years, her husband, Dominique Pelicot, routinely drugged his wife and invited scores of strangers to join him in raping her, often filming the encounters. In waiving her right to remain anonymous, Gisèle Pelicot has become a global feminist icon.

In a special edition, we focus on menopause since general knowledge of what it means for those who experience it and how to best treat it, is minimal to say the least. Although menopause is still considered taboo in many parts of the world, we report on how attitudes are changing dramatically in the UK where legislation is being discussed and employers now have a legal responsibility to support middle-aged women at work. Annette Young is also joined by noted American urologist, Dr Kelly Casperson, and Mathilde Neme who's designed an app in France to help women deal with its symptoms. The two talk about how the medical profession is still failing women on this key health issue.

How the US presidential election has been blighted by a campaign of online disinformation including misogynist and racist content. Annette Young talks to American disinformation specialist, Nina Jankowicz about how governments need to step up to prevent the erosion of democracy by toxic misinformation. Plus a group of indigenous women from Greenland are seeking compensation from the Danish Government over a campaign of involuntary birth control during the 1960s and 1970s.