Maternity discrimination; Penal reformers; Cheating partners

Anecdotal evidence suggests that some pregnant women experience discrimination while on maternity leave or on their return to work. However, there is no up to date evidence as the most recent data goes back to 2005. So the Equality and Human Rights Commission will be undertaking a new comprehensive research project to provide evidence on the extent, causes and effects of pregnancy and maternity discrimination.

Guest: Rosalind Bragg, Director of Maternity Action

EHRC tackles pregnancy discrimination

Three years ago Jan Griffiths found out her husband was having an affair for the third time. Within months, eight of her best female friends also discovered they were being cheated on - four of them lived within the same cul-de-sac. Realising there was little help available for women in their position, Jan decided to set up an online support network. Women Scorned was launched six weeks ago and it aims to help women cope with every aspect of infidelity.

Guests: Founder Jan Griffiths and Commercial Director Jo Welch.

Pauline Campbell and Violet Van der Elst were separated by more than half a century but their aims were the same – to transform the prison system. When Pauline’s daughter took her own life in prison in 2003, she embarked on a campaign to change the way women are treated behind bars, whereas Violet took to the streets in the 1930s to put an end to capital punishment. A new report from the Howard League for Penal Reform looks at the impact and success of their work. Guest : Laura Topham

Women have long nursed wounded soldiers on the battlefield and in 1902, the army formed a specialist unit of military nurses – the Queen Alexandra Imperial Military Nursing Service. The women served in the Boer War and World War I, but it was during the Second World War that the army decided they need to be closer to the front lines, in Casualty Clearing Stations and field hospitals. Nicola Tyrer has told the story of the nurses in her book, Sisters in Arms. Jennifer Chevalier spoke to her, and to two of the women who served in World War Two. Irish-born Mary English started nursing in 1942 in North Africa and during the Italian campaign. Dorothea Davies went over to France just after the D-Day landings.

Author Rosemary Friedman has written steadily for over 50 years. She has written screen plays, stage plays, TV scripts and has published 26 books. Her latest book, The Man Who Understood Women, brings together short stories from the mid 1950s to the present day and they provide a brilliant insight into the changing role of women over the last five decades.