Women's football; Ultrasound; TV violence against women

It’s the Women’s FA Cup Final on Sunday and Arsenal Ladies will be playing Bristol Academy. Women’s football is now the UK’s third most popular team sport and its profile has never been as high. Last summer, team GB played in front of massive crowds at the Olympic Games and this summer, the senior England women’s team will be playing in the UEFA European Women’s Championships in Sweden. For years, the women’s game has struggled to make any impact but in October last year the FA announced a 5 year plan to develop women’s football. So, why is Women’s football on the rise and can it simply be attributed to the injection of more cash? What is actually being done at the grassroots level to turn little girls into the female footy stars of the future? Jenni is joined by Kelly Simmons of the FA’s Director of the National Game and Women’s Football. and by Siobhan Chamberlain, goalkeeper for Bristol Academy and England.

Ultrasound scanning has transformed the management of pregnancy for millions of women over the world. It’s a vital part of ante-natal care, from finding out due dates to spotting potential problems and health conditions. Now a standard feature on hospital wards ultrasound technology was developed over fifty years ago by obstetrician Professor Ian Donald at the University of Glasgow.  To discuss how the technology has affected the care of pregnant women Jenni is joined by Malcolm Nicolson, Professor of the History of Medicine at University of Glasgow,  author of a new book Imaging & imagining the fetus: the history of obstetric ultrasound and by Dr Trish Chudleigh, Lead sonographer, Rosie Hospital. Addenbrookes.

Two BBC drama series in recent weeks have caused much comment, not just for the excellence of the acting and scriptwriting but also because of the scenes which depict violence against women. In The Politician’s Husband there was a graphic anal rape scene and in The Fall last week, there was a lengthy sequence of violence against women that made the Radio Times TV editor – Alison Graham – “feel sick.”  She believes that scenes like this have “overstepped the mark”. Alison talks to Jenni about the levels of violence against women in TV dramas. They are joined by the BBC’s Head of Drama, England – Kate Harwood.

An independent report has criticised Rochdale Council for its  lack of  “leadership”, “vision and direction” in the way that it handled the failures which led to continued grooming  and rape of a number of young girls. It is believed there were around 50 of them – some as young as ten. The report was carried out by AKA, a firm of independent public sector consultants and and was commissioned by the present Chief Executive,  Jim Taylor. This is the second critical report. Last September the Rochdale Borough Safeguarding Children Board  criticised the various agencies involved including parts of the council. In May last year, nine men were convicted of sexually assaulting young girls in Rochdale, they were given sentences from four to nineteen years. Jenni has been getting reaction from the father of one of the girls who was involved and from Jim Taylor, the Chief Executive of Rochdale Borough Council.