The Conversation

Online romance fraud and 'catfishing' – when someone pretends to be someone they’re not - is a problem across the globe. It causes financial and emotional devastation, yet many people refuse to take it seriously. Datshiane Navanayagam speaks to two women from the UK and Sweden who have spent years rebuilding their lives after being targeted by men they met on dating sites.

Pernilla Sjöholm is from Sweden. She was conned by the infamous Simon Leviev, the so-called "Tinder Swindler" and allegedly scammed out of the equivalent of $65,000. Pernilla is now an international speaker on AI, cybersecurity and fraud prevention. She also co-founded IDfier, working on digital identity verification, and is the author of Swindled Never After.

Anna Rowe is pushing for greater support for romance fraud victims after her own experience of being conned. In 2015 she fell in love with a man who she had met online. After 14 months she discovered that the man she was in a relationship with, ‘Antony Ray’ was using a fake identity and leading a double life which left Anna feeling emotionally and sexually violated. Anna is now dedicated to helping victims of all types of romance fraud and catfishing through her platforms LoveSaid and Catch the Catfish.

(Image: (L) Anna Rowe, credit Nina Rangoy. (R) Pernilla Sjöholm, credit Daniel Diamond.)

Produced by Jane Thurlow and Hannah Dean

Datshiane Navanayagam meets the women behind leading nurseries and flower farms in Germany and America. From a vase of cut roses to the perennials that brighten our gardens, these women cultivate beauty from bare earth.

Danielle Dall’Armi transformed a derelict lemon and avocado farm in California into a rose farm with an international reputation. A self-taught horticulturalist, she now has 25,000 rose plants and supplies high-end customers.

Anja Maubach runs the nursery founded by her great-grandfather, renowned botanist Georg Abends, specialising in perennials. She is also an expert on the great female horticulturalists of the past, such as Gertrude Jekyll and Vita Sackville-West.

Producer: Hannah Sander

(Image: (L) Anja Maubach, credit Daniel Welschenbach. (R) Danielle Dall'Armi, credit Victoria Pearson.)

Divorce and separation are often a time of upset and distress. Ella Al-Shamahi talks to women in Latvia and the UK whose work as mediators is about trying to find calm and co-operation in conflict.

Evija Kļave is a certified mediator and sociologist. She’s also an associate professor teaching mediation at masters level at Turiba University (a business school) and sits of the Commission of Certification and Attestation of Mediators which regulates mediators in Latvia as well as running her own private practice.

Romina Kamran is an accredited family and children mediator in the UK and member of the Family Mediation Council. She also heads the National Family Mediation training academy. Her own experience of divorce negotiations was tough, and she works to make decisions around separation ones that both parties can be comfortable with. She says mediation is not about being what one person might consider fair; it's about coming to a resolution that meets the needs of the whole family.

Produced by Jane Thurlow

(Image: (L) Evija Kļave, courtesy Turiba University. (R) Romina Kamran, credit Romina Kamran.)

Newspaper cartooning has a long history of using satire and humour to provide social commentary on the issues of the day – but how do female perspectives inform the approach, themes and tone of newspaper cartooning?

Andrea Arroyo is from Mexico City. Her work as a dancer took her to New York in the early eighties. In the US, an exhibition of her visual art was picked up to feature in the New York Times and spawned a career as a newspaper cartoonist. Her influence as a dancer can be seen in her rhythmic, fluid line work. Her artwork about the Me Too movement won a United Nations award for Political Cartooning.

Sarah Akinterinwa is from Kent in the UK. During the Covid-19 pandemic, she created a comic about a millennial couple called Oyin and Kojo, hoping to create better representation of Black British people in cartoons. After posting a daily drawing to social media, the cartoon editor of the New Yorker discovered her work and asked her to become a contributor. Sarah is also a cartoonist at The Guardian. Her strips tackle women’s issues, gender dynamics, friendships, relationships, health and politics.

Produced by Elena Angelides and Jane Thurlow

(Image: (L) Sarah Akinterinwa, credit Sarah Akinterinwa. (R) Andrea Arroyo, credit Felipe Galindo.)

Rice nourishes 3.5 billion people worldwide with women providing the majority of agricultural labour – especially in poorer countries. Datshiane Navanayagam talks to women from India and Tanzania about their work improving the resilience of rice to climate change, and about the lives of female rice farmers.

Ranjitha Puskur is a socio-economist in India leading gender and youth research at the International Rice Research Institute. She's working on innovations that would lead to more equitable outcomes for women in agriculture. She says there would be no food without women. And yet women farmers across the world still face disproportionate barriers in their work.

Dr Pauline Chivenge is a Zimbabwean agronomist working in Tanzania. Her research is focused on management of natural resources for improved crop productivity in Africa and South-East Asia: issues such as soil and water management, and how to reduce greenhouse gas emissions.

Produced by Jane Thurlow

(Image: (L) Ranjitha Puskur. Credit CGIAR. (R) Pauline Chivenge. Credit IRRI)

As war flares across the Middle East, and conflicts rage in other parts of the world, it is often said that women and girls are the hardest hit by war. But what does that actually mean in practice? What are the key statistics that tell us how conflicts impact women? And what role are women playing in peace processes too?

(Image: (L) Laura Muñoz-Encinar, credit Laura Muñoz-Encinar. (R) Idil Absiye, credit Idil Absiye.)

From “deepfakes” to “stealth filming”, women around the world are having their image stolen and shared online. Datshiane Navanayagam speaks to two women tackling this problem.

Uma Subramanian works for an Indian helpline called Meri Trustline, run by RATI Foundation, which offers help for women whose image has been used.

Kirana Ayuningtyas had her image digitally manipulated and shared online. She uses her social media profile, @k.for.kirana, to help other women in Indonesia.

Warning: this programme contains details that some listeners may find disturbing.

Producers: Rebecca Moore and Hannah Sander

(Image: (L) Uma Subramanian, credit Sanghamitra SV. (R) Kirana Ayuningtyas, credit Kirana Ayuningtyas.)

It's thought that around one in ten women of childbearing age have endometriosis, yet it often takes years of excessively painful periods and struggles to conceive before a diagnosis. And while there's no cure, surgery can help relieve symptoms. Datshiane Navanayagam talks to women from Hungary and South Africa working to improve treatment and diagnosis.

Adrienn Salamon lives with endometriosis. She waited many years for a diagnosis, and surgery enabled her to get IVF treatment. She started Női Egészségért Alapítvány, a women's health foundation in Hungary that supports women suffering from the disorder. She is also on the board of the World Endometriosis Society and says no woman should go through the same struggle with the condition that she experienced.

Dr Lusanda Shimange-Matsose is a gynaecologist, reproductive endocrine and infertility specialist in South Africa. She is director of Medfem Fertility Clinic in Johannesburg and is also a member of the Pan African Society of Endometriosis, offering support for women across the continent.

Produced by Jane Thurlow

(Image: (L) Adrienn Salamon, credit Johanna Krivocenko. (R) Lusanda Shimange-Matsose, courtesy Lusanda Shimange-Matsose.)

Datshiane Navanayagam speaks to two women who research what happens to our thoughts, feelings and behaviours when we speak many languages. To what extent do we have a “mother tongue” – and what happens if we stop using it?

Dr Aneta Pavlenko is a Ukrainian-American linguist who looks at the emotional impact of moving between languages.

Professor Núria Sebastián Gallés is a Spanish cognitive psychologist who studies bilingual toddlers and young babies.

Produced by Rebecca Moore and Hannah Sander

(Image: (L) Aneta Pavlenko, courtesy Aneta Pavlenko. (R) Núria Sebastián Gallés, courtesy Núria Sebastián Gallés.)

Ella Al-Shamahi talks to women in Switzerland and the UK about how job sharing can boost a career and bring many benefits to both work and home life.

Irenka Krone-Germann is Swiss and has written several books about job-sharing and part-time working. She co-founded the information platform, Go4jobsharing.ch and We Jobshare, an online platform which helps people find a job or topshare partner. Irenka has job partners, both female and male, in several different senior roles.

Charlotte Cherry and Alix Ainsley have been job sharing in the UK for 14 years. They've worked in senior HR roles for a number of different companies including General Electric, Lloyds Banking Group and currently work for Virgin. They've recently set up a consultancy, Daring Two. Charlotte says job sharing has enabled her and Alix to take on much more challenging and fulfilling positions, has accelerated their careers further than working solo part-time would have done, and at the same time to balance time with their families.

Produced by Jane Thurlow

(Image: (L) Charlotte Cherry, courtesy Charlotte Cherry. (R) Irenka Krone-Germann, credit Keren Bisaz.)