The Conversation

Divorces are often messy. In countries like Turkey and Egypt, they can also put women at risk of losing everything: their financial independence, the right to see their children, and their social status.İpek Bozkurt is a lawyer based in Istanbul. She focuses on cases of violence against women and works with a grassroot organisation called We Will Stop Femicide. Her story was featured in the documentary “Dying to Divorce”, which was the UK’s official entry for the Best International Feature Film category at the 2022 Academy Awards. Nada Nashat is a human rights activist based in Cairo. She is the Advocacy Coordinator at the Center for Egyptian Women's Legal Assistance (CEWLA), an organisation supporting women who want to divorce their husbands. She’s also campaigning to make divorce legislation fairer. Produced by Alice Gioia and Lorna Treen(Image: (L) Nada Nashat, courtesy Nada Nashat. (R) İpek Bozkurt, courtesy İpek Bozkurt.)

Women’s football is being played in front of record crowds – interest and attendance has soared and the game is flourishing but getting here hasn’t been easy and there are still some significant hurdles to overcome. Kim Chakanetsa talks to two players at the very top of their game who have been instrumental in helping bring about change. Sara Gama is captain of the Italy women’s football team and Serie A club Juventus. Growing up she was unaware women even played football and was the only girl her team. She’s been pivotal in gaining greater recognition and equality for the women’s game in Italy which finally became professional in July 2022.Women’s football has changed a lot since Rafaelle Souza used to play barefoot with the boys in the small town in Brazil where she grew up. Rafa went to the United States on a football scholarship and studied civil engineering, she then became the first foreigner to play for a club in China. She’s now at Arsenal. Produced by Jane Thurlow(Image: (L) Sara Gama, credit Getty Images. (R) Rafaelle Souza, credit Getty Images.)

Kim Chakanetsa talks to a multi-award winning wine expert from France and a young sommelier from Kenya who was part of the first all-female team to take part in the World Wine Blind Tasting Championships 2022. Pascaline Lepeltier was studying for a PhD in Philosophy when she switched to work in a restaurant and pursue her interest in wine. She went on to become the only woman to have been named “Un des Meilleurs Ouvriers de France - Sommellerie”, and also in 2018, Best French Sommelier. She has a passion for championing organic, natural and biodynamic wines and is beverage director at the New York restaurant Chambers.Melissa Mwende is a Kenyan born and raised sommelier and wine educator. After working as a wine ambassador for a brand in South Africa she opened a small wine shop outside Nairobi and works as a wine consultant. She wants people to learn about fantastic wines produced across the African continent.Produced by Jane Thurlow(Image: (L) Pascaline Lepeltier, credit Cedric Angeles. (R) Melissa Mwende, courtesy Melissa Mwende.)

What role did women play in the social and cultural life of Ancient Egypt? Kim Chakanetsa talks to two women uncovering secrets from this incredible civilisation. Dr Monica Hanna is an Egyptologist and a leading heritage expert. She’s the acting dean of the College of Archaeology and Cultural Heritage at the Arab Academy in Aswan. Monica’s been awarded for her fight against looting. Dr Solange Ashby is an Egyptologist at UCLA whose work focuses on Nubia, a region in Northeast Africa split between present-day Egypt and Sudan. Solange’s current research explores the role of women in ancient Nubia and she’s writing a monograph about the royal women of Kush.Produced by Alice Gioia and Lorna Treen.(Image: (L) Dr Monica Hanna, credit Justin Merriman. (R) Dr Solange Ashby, credit courtesy of Dr Solange Ashby).

Today we are celebrating the 10th anniversary of BBC 100 Women - an initiative that highlights the work of 100 inspiring and influential women from around the world. Australian activist Chanel Contos started a movement dubbed 'Teach Us Consent’. Thanks to her campaign, consent education will be mandatory in all Australian schools from kindergarten until year 10. It all started in 2021, when Chanel posted a story on Instagram, asking her followers if they or someone they knew had been sexually assaulted at school. Within 24 hours more than 200 people had replied “yes”. Now she is educating people about non-consensual condom removal, or stealthing, as well as campaigning to criminalise the act.Ghanaian writer Nana Darkoa Sekyiamah is the author of The Sex Lives of African Women, which has been described as “an astonishing report on the quest for sexual liberation”. She is the co-founder of Adventures from the Bedrooms of African Women, a website, podcast and festival that publishes and creates content that tells stories of African women’s experiences around sex, sexualities, and pleasure.Produced by Alice Gioia (Image: (L) Nana Darkoa Sekyiamah, credit Charles Lawson. (R) Chanel Contos, credit Side-Note.)

Global food insecurity is putting millions of people at risk, and during hunger crises women are more vulnerable to the effects of malnutrition. Rukia Yacoub is the World Food Programme’s deputy regional director in East Africa. A nutritionist by trade, Rukia currently oversees the UN agency’s efforts to provide food to people in crises in Somalia, Kenya and Ethiopia. In the past, Rukia worked to tackle malnutrition in Yemen, Ghana and Rwanda. Neha Mankani is a midwife from Pakistan. In 2015 she started the Mama Baby Fund, a charity providing women with emergency medical treatments and food supplies. She has been working in the poorest regions of Pakistan, including remote islands in the Arabian Sea and in the Sindh province, which was devastated by floods in the summer of 2022.Produced by Alice Gioia(Image: (L) Neha Mankani, courtesy of Neha Mankani. (R) Rukia Yacoub, credit WFP/Alessandro Abbonizio.)

While synonymous with status and romance, diamonds have also been linked to controversy, colonialism and conflict. Kim Chakanetsa talks to two women whose lives have been shaped and transformed by the diamond industry in Botswana and Namibia.Anna Marie Johnson was paralysed at the age of eight. Reliant on a wheelchair, she missed out on completing her education. She's found a new lease of life and renewed ambition as part of a diverse workforce at Andre Messika in Windhoek, Namibia.Naseem Lahri is the first woman, and the first female citizen of Botswana, to run a diamond mine in the country. She says she's a product of diamond mining through the funding the industry puts into education in her country and that she's delighted to be part of the process giving back to the local community.Produced by Jane Thurlow(Image: (L) Anna Marie Johnson, credit Natural Diamond Council. (R) Naseem Lahri, credit Lucara Diamond.)

An increasing number of women have become addicted to gambling in recent years, and experts fear the current cost of living crisis could put even more women at risk. Sandra Adell is a professor of literature in the Department of Afro-American Studies at the University of Wisconsin-Madison. She is the author of a memoir, Confessions of a Slot Machine Queen, and she is currently working on a book about the impact of gambling on underprivileged communities in the US called And Then The Casinos Came: Narratives of Gambling and Loss. For Lisa Walker, gambling has always been a recreational activity. She started at the age of seven, playing cards for pennies with her dad, and she continued throughout her twenties. But winning £127,000 at a game of poker led her to develop a severe addiction that left her broke and homeless. She is now a community outreach worker with the UK charity Betknowmore and she leads New Beginnings, a project supporting women who struggle with gambling.Producer: Alice Gioia(Image: (L) Sandra Adell, courtesy Sandra Adell. (R) Lisa Walker, courtesy Lisa Walker)

What role are women playing in providing solar power and ensuring that vulnerable communities have access to cheaper and cleaner energy? Kim Chakanetsa talks to an electrical engineer working in the US and Nicaragua, and a Nigerian entrepreneur.Anna Bautista is vice president of construction at GRID Alternatives, a large non-profit solar company that works with low-income communities across America and in Nicaragua. Her career as an electrical engineer started in the private sector where she worked as a site supervisor, trainer, and design and installation technician on residential and commercial PV (photovoltaic) projects.Olasimbo Sojinrin is the chief operating officer of Solar Sisters, an enterprise selling solar powered lamps and electrical appliances to women living in off-grid communities across Africa. Growing up in Nigeria, her life was dictated by power outages, so she decided to empower other women by finding sustainable and affordable solutions to the energy problem.Producer: Jane Thurlow(Image: (L) Anna Bautista, courtesy Anna Bautista. (R) Olasimbo Sojinrin, courtesy Olasimbo Sojinrin)

Kim Chakanetsa discusses the wonders of the sky with two world-renowned astronomers.Dr Ewine van Dishoeck is a Dutch astronomer and chemist who has been involved with the development of the James Webb Telescope, the largest optical telescope in space. A professor of molecular astrophysics at the University of Leiden, her work in researching the potential existence of water in space could help find answers to the biggest questions, including whether life is possible on other planets. Dr Catherine Cesarsky is an Argentinian and French astronomer. Her research in astrophysics has included the composition of galactic cosmic rays and how stars are formed. As president of the Square Kilometre Array telescope project she’s directing an international effort to build the world’s largest radio telescope.Produced by Emily Naylor and Alice Gioia(Image: (L) Dr Ewine van Dishoeck, credit Katinka Baehr. (R) Dr Catherine Cesarsky, credit EPFL/SKACH/Severin Bigler.)