Weekend Woman's Hour: Carey Mulligan, Paul and Coral Jones, Noomi Rapace

Carey Mulligan made her name in her first film, An Education – which won her an Oscar nomination – and has been acclaimed since for her work in major films like Shame, Drive, and The Great Gatsby. Now she’s about to appear on the big screen in the lead role of Bathesheba Everdene in the new film version of Thomas Hardy’s Far From The Madding Crowd, first made famous by Julie Christie in 1967. She joins Jenni to talk about taking on this famous role of a strong female in a man’s world, and about her own experiences making it as a young woman in the Hollywood film industry today.

Far From The Madding Crowd is released on 1 May, certificate 12A.

In October of 2012, five-year-old April Jones was abducted in the small Welsh town of Machynlleth. Her shocking disappearance sparked the biggest police search in UK history and hundreds of people turned out to search for her. Only traces of April’s body were ever found, but paedophile Mark Bridger was convicted of her abduction and murder.

Now April’s parents, Coral and Paul, have written about their daughter and about the terrible events which followed her abduction. They’ve been talking to Jane about the little girl they lost, how they’ve coped with the tragedy and their continuing campaign against online child pornography.

‘April’ by Paul and Coral Jones was published by Simon & Schuster on April 9th.

ChildLine is the UK’s free, 24-hour confidential helpline for children and young people who need to talk. Trained counsellors are there to provide comfort, support and advice about any problem that’s on your mind. Contact them 24 hours a day, every day, by phone or via their website.

The National Association for People Abused in Childhoodis a charity that offers support, advice and guidance to adult survivors of any form of childhood abuse.

Samaritans is available for anyone struggling to cope round the clock, every single day of the year. They provide a safe place to talk where calls are completely confidential. Get in touch by phone or email or find the details for the local branch online

The NSPCC is a charity specialising in child protection and the prevention of cruelty to children. The charity has a free anonymous 24/7 helpline that provides help, advice and support to adults worried about a child. 

Pace (Parents against child sexual exploitation)works alongside parents and carers of children who are – or are at risk of being – sexually exploited by perpetrators external to the family, as well as offering guidance and training to professionals on how child sexual exploitation affects the whole family. Pace seeks to enable parents and carers to safeguard and stop their children being sexually exploited, works with parents and partners to disrupt and bring perpetrators to justice, and aims to influence national and local policy and practice.

The National Rape Crisis Helplineis accessible 365 days a year to women calling from anywhere in England and Wales who have survived any form of sexual violence, no matter how long ago, offering specialised, confidential support, information and referral details completely free of charge. The helpline is also available to provide an immediate source of support to friends and family of survivors, as well as other professionals, to understand how best to support female survivors of sexual violence.

The Survivors Trust has over 130 member agencies based in the UK and Ireland which provide specialist support for women, men and children who are survivors of rape, sexual violence or childhood sexual abuse.

Survivors UKprovides information, support and counselling for men who have been raped or sexually abused.

Rape Crisis Scotland provides a national rape crisis helpline for anyone affected by sexual violence, no matter when or how it happened. The helpline offers free and confidential crisis support and information. They can also put you in touch with local rape crisis centres or other services for ongoing support.

NEXUS NIworks across Northern Ireland to respond to the needs of survivors of sexual violence. They offer counselling to victims of rape, sexual violence and sexual abuse. Contact your local Nexus office by phone or email to arrange counselling or to ask for more information.

Victim Support If you’ve been a victim or witness of any crime you can get emotional and practical help from Victim Support, whether or not it has been reported to the police.

Victim Support Scotlandoffers emotional and practical support to all victims and witnesses of crime across Scotland.

Victim Support NI offers emotional and practical support to all victims and witnesses of crime across Northern Ireland.

Noomi Rapace stars in a new film, Child 44, based on the best-selling novel by Tom Rob Smith. The backdrop is 1950’s Soviet Russia, and the story is loosely based on the crimes of real-life serial killer Andrei Chikatilo. Noomi plays Raisa Demidov, the wife of a secret police agent. In the film the couple investigate a trail of murdered children, hampered by Stalin’s rule that, “There is no crime in Paradise.” Noomi Rapace made a name for herself when she starred in the original version of The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo. She joins Jenni to talk about Child 44, and why she’s drawn to roles in such dark films.

Child 44 goes on general release on April 17th.

Award winning spoken word artist Hollie McNish speaks to Jane about her new double album, tour and forthcoming collection. Hollie talks about relinquishing control when it came to putting her poetry to music; dealing with critics and how personal she is prepared to get when it comes to her work.

Hollie’s UK Tour starts on Wednesday 15th April in Edinburgh and continues in cities including Nottingham, Brighton – ending in Belfast on the 18th May.

Versus - The Album – is out on the 27th April and the poetry collection Cherry Pie is out on the 1st June.