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Woman's Hour

Eni Aluko, For Women Scotland, An Army of Women documentary, Bad Friends.

Woman's Hour

BBC

Society & Culture, Health & Fitness, Personal Journals

4.22.9K Ratings

🗓️ 23 April 2025

⏱️ 58 minutes

🧾️ Download transcript

Summary

Trans women should use toilets according to their biological sex, according to the equalities minister Bridget Phillipson, this is in response to the UK Supreme Court’s ruling a week ago on the legal definition of a woman. The Prime Minister Keir Starmer has welcomed the decision, saying it provides much needed clarity, and his office has confirmed that the Prime Minister no longer believes trans women are women. There have been protests against the decision, with critics saying it is incredibly worrying for the trans community. The ruling followed a long-running legal battle between the Scottish Government and the campaign group For Women Scotland. Susan Smith, one of the directors, gives her reflections on the outcome, a week on. The historian Tiffany Watt Smith traces the evolution and messy realities of female friendship across the past century in her new book Bad Friend. Tiffany talks to Clare about bad friends through history: the romantic school girls of the 1900s; office gossips; mum cliques; angry activists; and the coven – women who choose to live together in old age – to the present day. 

The former lioness Eni Aluko had a hugely successful career as a player making over 100 appearances for England. Since then she's gone on to have an equally successful career as a pundit, becoming the first woman to appear on Match of the Day in 2014. Earlier this month her name was in the headlines following the outcome of a civil court hearing involving the ex-footballer Joey Barton. In the first stage of a High Court libel case the Judge found that online posts made by Joey Barton about Eni and her family were "defamatory". Mr Barton is yet to respond, and can appeal, or defend the statements if the case proceeds to trial. In a separate criminal case involving both parties Joey Barton has pleaded not guilty to allegedly posting offensive comments on social media.

An Army of Women is a documentary that follows a group of women in Austin, Texas who took on the legal systems that they feel let their rapists walk free – specifically by filing lawsuits against the police department in Austin and the district attorney’s office in Travis County, which prosecutes cases for the county. Those suits were settled in 2021 and 2022. The documentary debuted at the South by Southwest Festival last year, and is being released here in the UK from this Friday. Clare speaks to documentary director Julie Lunde Lillesæter and Hanna Senko, who was the lead plaintiff in one of those lawsuits.

Presented by Clare McDonnell Producer: Louise Corley

Transcript

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0:00.0

You're about to listen to a BBC podcast, but this is about something else you might enjoy.

0:05.4

My name's Katie Lecky and I'm an assistant commissioner for on demand music on BBC Sounds.

0:10.8

The BBC has an incredible musical heritage and culture and as a music lover, I love being part of that.

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With music on sounds, we offer collections and mixes for everything, from workouts to

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helping you nod off, boogie in your kitchen, or even just a moment of calm. And they're all put

0:28.3

together by people who know their stuff. So if you want some expertly curated music in your life,

0:35.0

check out BBC Sounds.

0:41.2

BBC Sounds, music, radio, podcasts.

0:45.8

Hello, this is Claire Macdonnell and you're listening to the Woman's Hour podcast.

0:52.8

Hello and welcome to Woman's Hour. This morning, in her first in-depth interview since winning the first stage of her libel case against ex-footballer Joey Barton,

0:57.6

will hear from the former England footballer Eni Aluko.

1:01.0

The High Court found that online posts made by Joey Barton about Eni and her family were defamatory.

1:07.9

She tells me why she decided to take the case on, the effect it's had on her personally,

1:13.2

and why female football pundits are scrutinised so much more than their male counterparts.

1:19.9

Yesterday on the programme, we asked you what qualities you look for in a good friend. Well, today

1:25.6

it's the opposite. Historian Tiffany Watts-Smith felt

1:29.1

she wasn't very good at friendships, so it made her want to examine the history of female friendships

1:34.3

and how she might approach forming new friendships differently. She's written a brilliant book about

1:39.5

it. It's called Bad Friend and Tiffany will join us live. And we'll bring you the inspiring story of a group of women

1:46.1

from Austin, Texas, who took on the legal system and the police department after they say

1:51.3

their rapists were allowed to walk free. Their story is now the subject of a documentary released

1:56.9

in the UK this week. It's called Army of Women. We'll be joined by one of the women involved and the film's director.

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