Weekend Woman’s Hour: Nelly Furtado, Woman in Myanmar, Woman’s Hour from Lord’s, Taking children out of school

BBC

The Portuguese-Canadian singer-songwriter Nelly Furtado has sold more than 40 million records worldwide and won awards including a Grammy. Her upbeat, genre-defying pop music dominated the charts in the 2000s, from her break out hit I’m Like A Bird to her 2006 album Loose and its stand out hit Maneater. After finding that her music had been rediscovered by a whole new generation of fans on social media, she’s back with 7, her first album since 2017.In February 2021, a coup returned Myanmar to military rule, overthrowing the democratically elected government. Under the regime, violence against civilians has escalated, with thousands jailed, tortured and killed – although the numbers are believed be much higher. At least three million people have been displaced. Just two weeks ago, a UN Report outlined the gendered impact of the coup: It found that military forces have committed widespread forms of sexual violence. However, despite the coup's devastating impact, women and girls are taking on key roles within the resistance movement. Also this month, there have been separate news reports that women are being conscripted into the military. Nuala discussed the situation with Tin Htar Swe, the former head of The BBC's Burmese Service.Woman's Hour broadcast from Lord's Cricket Ground as England faced New Zealand for the culmination of a five-match T20 International series and to mark 25 years since the Marylebone Cricket Club, that runs Lord’s, allowed women to become members. During the programme she spoke to World Cup winning cricketer Ebony Rainford-Brent and the England and Wales Cricket Board’s Head of the Women’s professional game, Beth Barrett-Wild. She also spoke to girls about why they love playing cricket. Nuala was also given a tour of Lord’s – taking in the spots of most significance to women’s history at the ground. She heard about Baroness Rachel Heyhoe Flint and Martha Grace, the mother of a player who is considered one of the all time greats, W. G. Grace. Her tour guide Rachel Pagan met her just outside the ground. Taking children out of school during term time was in the news this week as the new Education Secretary Bridget Phillipson said there "will have to be consequences" for parents who fail to keep their children in school. It’s illegal to take children out without the school’s permission. Minimum fines, imposed by local authorities, for taking children out of class without permission for five school ...