Dr Hilary Cass, Actor Alison Steadman, Operation Identify Me, Electro-folk singer Frankie Archer

Woman's Hour

Dr Hilary Cass, now Baroness Cass, led a four year review into children’s gender identity services in England. Her final report concluded that children had been let down by a lack of research and "remarkably weak" evidence on medical interventions, and called for gender services for young people to match the standards of other NHS care. In an exclusive interview Nuala McGovern gets Dr Hilary Cass’s reflections six months on from releasing her landmark report.

Alison Steadman is one of our best loved actors. Candice Marie in Nuts in May, Beverly in Abigail’s Party, Mrs Bennett in Pride and Prejudice and Pamela in Gavin & Stacey, just some of the iconic characters Alison has brought to life. She’s also won an Olivier Award for The Rise and Fall of Little Voice and a National Society of Film Critic Award. She is also a keen birdwatcher. She joins Nuala to talk about her memoir, Out of Character.

The second phase of a campaign aimed at finding the names of unidentified women who were murdered or killed in suspicious circumstances is being launched. Operation Identify Me is highlighting another 46 cold cases that European police are seeking to solve. BBC coverage of last year’s appeal helped to identify a British woman, Rita Roberts, some 30 years after her murder. Nuala is joined by BBC Correspondent Anna Holligan.

The Northumbrian electro-folk musician Frankie Archer has performed at Glastonbury and The BBC Proms, been featured on ‘Later... With Jools Holland’,and named as One To Watch! She has released a new EP 'Pressure and Persuasion’, through which she tells the stories of four women and girls from centuries past who navigate the same expectations that are put on women today. She joins Nuala to talk about womanhood, tradfolk and her current UK tour, and to perform her current single, Elsie Marley.

Presented by Nuala McGovern Producer: Louise Corley