Woman's Hour - Quaranteens, New police strategy to tackle violence against women and girls, Jess Duckworth

Episode Date: December 15, 2021

There is no doubt that the pandemic is still affecting people's social lives, but perhaps the most affected are teenagers or 'quaranteens'. Many young people have missed out on major social milestones - parties, teen romances and opportunities to be with their mates - which can be so formative. What is the impact of missing out on these experiences? And how can adults best support 'quaranteens'? Emma talks to Laverne Antrobus, a consultant child and educational psychologist.The woman charged with co-ordinating the national police response in England and Wales to violence against women and girls unveils her strategy on Woman’s Hour. Deputy Chief Constable Maggie Blyth is the new national police co-ordinator for violence against women and girls. The aim is give the 43 police forces around the country a uniform approach, and make women and girls feel safer in their daily lives. We’ll also get reaction to the new strategy from Amelia Handy from Rape Crisis Centres. It’s been a particularly stressful couple of years for staff working in the NHS, including junior doctors like Jess Duckworth. When she isn’t busy with patients at the Royal Devon and Exeter hospital, she is treating herself and others in the hospital to some relaxation with her piano playing. Combining her two passions – music and medicine - she’s researched the types and style of music people find relaxing, and it’s resulted in a second EP to be released in February next year, The Piano Doctor Volume II – A Year of Reflective Piano Music. The single ‘Into The Light’ is out this week. Statistics out this morning show UK inflation has increased to 5.1 per cent last month - the highest in a decade - after prices rose across the economy including for fuel and food bills. Some observers are talking about she-flation with some of the poorest in society - often women on low and part time work - being affected more. Professor Heather McGregor, Head of the Business School at Heriot Watt University joins Emma to discuss.

This BBC podcast is supported by ads outside the UK. I'm Natalia Melman-Petrozzella, and from the BBC, this is Extreme Peak Danger. The most beautiful mountain in the world. If you die on the mountain, you stay on the mountain. This is the story of what happened when 11 climbers died on one of the world's deadliest mountains, K2, and of the risks we'll take to feel truly alive. If I tell all the details, you won't believe it anymore. Extreme, peak danger. Listen wherever you get your podcasts.

BBC Sounds. Music, radio, podcasts. Hello, I'm Emma Barnett and welcome to Woman's Hour from BBC Radio 4. Hello, good morning, welcome to the programme. Shortly, you'll be hearing about a new plan to make girls and women safer from the police officer behind it in her first interview since announcing today's strategy. But also on today's programme, as plans perhaps change due to the Omicron invariant, we're going to be talking to a junior doctor who combines her love of music and medicine.

Jess Duckworth plays the piano in her hospital as she comes off shift and now has a new album out. After a couple of years like no other, with a recent report showing a third of junior doctors in the UK are feeling burnt out due to the pandemic, up from a quarter in previous years. It is one coping strategy that has also turned into a side hustle for Jess. But what about you? What is your side hustle? What do you do on the side, either for passion, money or both?

Has it become perhaps your main thing? There's a lot of people in the UK who do have something on the side. A lot of women in a recent report say they hope it would become their main job or their main activity in some way or way of relying on it. Tell me yours. What is your side hustle? We'll be hearing a junior doctor's take on why music and medicine is her perfect combination. What about you? Are you able to do it with the job that you do?

Perhaps you had to leave where you were working to pursue what you wanted to do on the side. 84844 is the number you need to text me here at Woman's Hour. Do be reminded that texts will be charged at your standard message rate or on social media at BBC Woman's Hour or email me through the Woman's Hour website. And also on today's programme, we'll be talking about quarantines. Those teenagers coming of age during these COVID times, how are they being affected and how should they be supported? All of that to come, and we'll be hearing from some of them themselves about what they feel about the times we're living in. But first, the woman charged with coordinating the police response

in England and Wales to violence against women and girls has unveiled her strategy this morning. Maggie Blythe, who joined me roughly a month ago here in the Woman's Hour studio, is aiming now, she's back here, to give those 43 police forces a uniform approach and to make women and girls feel safer in their daily lives. It's quite a tall order. As you will know, recent cases have eroded trust in the police. I know I will not need to remind you of the kidnap, rape and murder of Sarah Everard by the serving officer, police officer Wayne Cousins, and the appallingly disrespectful way two police officers behaved over the murder of sisters Bieber Henry and Nicole Smallman. The Met officers, PCs Dennis Jaffa and Jamie Lewis, were jailed last week for circulating photos of the two sisters' bodies on a WhatsApp group. But there continues to be and has continued

to be a steady flow of unedifying reports about officers abusing their position at a time police are hoping to restore faith in the service. Our reporter Melanie Abbott has been looking at this and some of the new initiatives to reassure women. As well as the cases getting national publicity in newspapers around the UK last week, there were headlines like police officer took advantage of suicidal colleague, former Somerset police officer manipulated women into affairs for sexual gratification, he had sex with one in the police station,

and Wiltshire PC admits offences relating to vulnerable women. Reports making me wonder how many women now feel they can trust the police. Here at my local Zumba class, I decided to take the temperature. I would like to think that I would be able to phone a police officer. However, if a police officer approached me and I was on my own, then I would be very cautious and that's sad. Right now I feel a little bit worried if the police stop me especially if it's late in the evening. I mean I know there are amazing people working, doing the job properly but you know it's not only what happened with these ladies

everything that came out after that. What about if you were in trouble yourself? Would you feel confident to call the police for help? Yeah, of course I would feel safe. I think it would be safer if I see two policemen more than only one. Police shouldn't be out on their own dealing with single women on their own. If you, heaven forbid, ever got into trouble yourself,

how confident would you feel to call the police? I don't know the answer to that question. I really don't know. I understand that there's a lot of sexism in the police and domestic violence is clearly not given sufficient priority. Sarah's death has been a real eye-opener that something more poisonous is festering in the police. What do you think that says about the state of policing, then, that you feel that way?

I fear there is a section of the male population of the country that has those kind of attitudes. Those people should not be able to become policemen, but the kind of people who want to become police are potentially macho, testosterone loaded, and those are the very people who have statistically those kind of attitudes. You've always put your trust in police. You've always been told, you know, if anything happens, you go to the police. Now it's a different story. Now the trust has gone. And what do you think would be going through your mind

if a loan officer were to approach you now? I would probably ask questions, why he approached me, maybe ask for some idea. I'm not sure if I'm confident enough to do that, mainly because I think you always feel intimidated a little bit by police. Advice from police themselves, like flag down a bus if you're concerned about a lone officer, didn't reassure many. The Metropolitan Police Commissioner Cressida Dick last month told a meeting of the London Assembly there's something more concrete now in place. We are launching our safe connection, as we call it, which allows a woman who is stopped by such a police officer

immediately to have verification that this is a police officer because my plainclothes officers will call into a control room. They will then have a video call with a sergeant in uniform who will say, yes, that's so-and-so, he's PCXYZ. So a quick, easy way, which again is instigated by the officer, not by the woman having to ask for this. The Metropolitan Police stress it will be very unusual for officers to patrol alone, but technology is being embraced by other forces to try to make women feel safer.

In Cheshire, they have £300,000 from the government's Safety of Women at Night fund. John Dwyer, the police and crime commissioner there, told me it's for a new video link system for women who might be in trouble. We're asking them to dial 999, contact the force control room, who will then send them a link, a video link, so that the force control room operator can then see the scenario that those individuals are facing. It also allows us to record evidence from the scene. Isn't there a danger that by the time the link's been sent and clicked on,

the moment could be passed and something worse could have happened? Well, clearly that is an issue, isn't it? The 999 operator will be able to dispatch resources immediately. In total, there were 22 different organisations that got funding from the same fund you got money from, from the Safety of Women at Night fund. Do you think there's a danger that this is being done in a bit of a piecemeal approach? Each area has its own interpretation of what's required. We're also going to be including CCTV networks that will actually improve our monitoring of the streets as well. Women's groups might say that what's really needed to make women feel safer is more of a systemic change in the police forces when they've been hearing so much of a culture of machismo and of sexism. I'm really concerned about women's safety and that's why

we've invested in this piece of kit and other bits of kit. I want women and girls in this county in Cheshire to feel safe. They would argue that it means more than technology, that there needs to be a culture change within the police. Clearly, we are all well aware of the disgraceful things that have happened during this last 12 months. I'm determined to make sure that everybody in the county feels safe walking our streets. An idea begun by Thames Valley Police, where plainclothes and uniformed officers work together, is now being extended to more forces. Called Project Vigilant, Chief Superintendent Katie Barrow-Grint,

the tactical lead for violence against women and girls there, explains how it works. We deploy plainclothes police officers and uniformed police officers into the night-time city centre to identify predatory behaviour. They will call their uniformed colleagues who will come along and intervene with that person, check who they are. About 20% of the people that we stop have got sexual offending history, either arrests or criminal convictions. That's quite high then, isn't it? 20%. It is quite high and very concerning. And do they

actually go into venues as well the plainclothes offices? No it's outside of venues but what we have been doing is working with our door staff, our bar staff, we have street angels in Thames Valley who are volunteers and they can call us if they see concerning behaviour. But it'd be even more successful if they were actually inside because presumably that is where someone might really zone into that target. At the moment, we want to keep it focused on the public space arena outside and we are quite clear that that is because we have the ability to use our CCTV in cities.

We have the ability to call on our colleagues. We're currently evaluating what we have been doing over the past couple of years and we will see the outcomes of that evaluation before we take any further steps. Arresting someone's just the beginning. Getting a case to court can be a bigger challenge. The number of cases charged has fallen by almost half over the three years from 2017 to 2020. It can be because those reporting rapes can't face giving evidence. The CPS last week unveiled a push to get the public gallery of courtrooms

cleared more often, even when video links are used, a measure introduced back in 1999. Jan Lamping is the National Victims and Witness Lead at the CPS. This measure is almost never used, and that's despite the fact that we've had clear feedback from victims that clearing the gallery can reduce their trauma. Even if a victim is giving evidence via a live link or behind a screen they are very likely to be aware that court proceedings are open to the public and some research that we did showed that

around half of complainants do choose to enter the courtroom to give at least part of their evidence and this is often because they prefer to be behind a screen than seen on a video link. Using this measure in combination with others will support victims we hope to be able to give their best evidence. We've also highlighted the importance of having an offender-centric approach to rape prosecutions so that's where we focus more closely on the actions and behaviour of the suspect. We do know that there's a really long way to go but we hope that in time these efforts will encourage more victims to stay on board. Jan Lamping of the Crown Prosecution Service ending that report from Melanie Abbott. Well,

in the studio, as I say, I've been joined by the Deputy Chief Constable Maggie Blythe, the coordinator for the National Police Chiefs Council on Violence Against Women and Girls in her first broadcast interview since announcing this new strategy today. Let's go through some of the new strategy and how it's going to work. Good morning. Thank you, Emma, for inviting me back onto the programme this morning and allowing me to outline some of what we in policing are launching today around our new national framework for policing action against violence against women and girls.

Police forces will create lists of violent men and be expected to conduct daily intelligence reviews to prevent women and girls from being attacked. Who are these men? So I think listening to the reports this morning on your programme, we know that we have got a fundamental shift to tackle violence against women and girls that is needed. It is a cultural shift, it is a fundamental change in the prioritisation of VORG offences, violence against women and girls offences that is needed. And we've outlined in three pillars how we're going to go about that. One of those is the relentless focus on perpetrators. And what I've heard loud and strong from organisations and individuals

before I came into role, and certainly since I've been in role is the investigations that we're involved in too often make victims feel that they are the focus of the investigations not the offenders usually the male offenders and our policing powers and our policing duty needs to keep that focus on male usually male perpet and offenders. So we will use all of our policing powers to keep that focus to make sure that we're reviewing at local level the risk that anyone who is alleged of an offender. What does that mean? So I understand a change of emphasis and we, you know, no disrespect, I have now heard that from several parts of the police force, especially in the year that we have just gone through with regards to some of those cases.

I outlined those high profile cases which have shaken a lot of women's faith in the police. But what does it mean police forces will create lists of violent men? Do you already have those lists? We already risk assess all of the offenders that come to the attention of policing. That happens all of the time. So what's new? So it's a cultural shift in terms of the prioritisation of how we staff and resource offences against violence, anything that is about violence against women and girls.

So that will be using specialist investigators. One of the things that we're putting at the heart of our new approach is a new initiative that was started in Avon and Somerset known as Opseteria, which looks at and invites in an evidence base to how rape and serious sexual offences are addressed. We know that having specialist investigators, having, as we heard outlined by the CPS just now, an offender focus to any investigation should be first and foremost in how we go about it. Conducting daily intelligence reviews to prevent women and girls from being attacked. What's that mean? It means in practice every day in every police force around this country there will be a review of the risk that is presented to that police force around individuals that have come

to the attention overnight, that have come to the attention of police forces for activities that have happened in the previous few hours and moving forward. Doesn't that already happen? It does already happen but it's enabling a continuing focus on the threat assessment that those, usually males, provide and present to our communities. It happens all the time, but it is making sure that we look at not just the high risk, the prolific and serious offenders that are always at the first and foremost top of the list, but also looking at the volume of offenders that may present, particularly around domestic abuse. Domestic abuse, for example, is often 15% of recorded crime for any police force.

That's a lot of individuals at a local level that present a risk. I don't understand the difference. If it's already happening and you're talking about making victims or survivors feel like the emphasis isn't on interrogating them what will actually change? So we talked or you were in the report this morning there was a talk about a cultural fundamental shift in the prioritization of VORG. So it just goes to the top of the email inbox? So it will definitely go to the top of any prioritization but that's about. You can't know that but you'll have to check that. That is about a strategic, fundamental strategic prioritisation of violence against women and girls. That is looking at the threat, what the data says,

what survivors... But you've only got the people you've got. You've only got the men that you know about, if we're just going to say it's mainly men. And to the woman who's just emailed in, Catherine, my daughter's a police officer. I trust her judgement seems as an assumption that police officers are all men. It's not. But we're talking mainly about male perpetrators here.

But I think that's a good point to make. Women and men are going to be implementing this, you hope. But the point is, you've only got the men you know about. You haven't got the men you don't know about. Absolutely. And policing is, so I think at the fundamental heart of our framework being launched today is that cultural shift in prioritising violence against women and girls. We know that the data, the prevalence of offenders out there, and we only know the ones we know about, what we want to do is rebuild the trust and confidence so that women and girls come forward and report in the first place. So that where there are men behaving in a way that threatens and harms women they feel they can come to the police and report because something happens and is done about it

so that increase in confidence will enable us to know more. What will be the proof that that has actually happened? So the proof and this is very much again the heart of what we're launching today is some consistency across the 43 police forces. So right now women and this is very much, again, the heart of what we're launching today, is some consistency across the 43 police forces. So right now, women and girls, violence against women and girls is not prioritised by police forces in England and Wales. It is a priority amongst many other threats that affect our local communities all the time. Some police forces will be able to resource and do more than others. But you're now saying it will be a priority for all police forces? It is an absolute priority for all police forces across our 43 different places.

Isn't that just semantics? It isn't semantics because what accompanies this framework is, and will be published again in March, is a performance metrics that will allow police forces to measure the improvement in investigations around violence against women and girl offences, to look at the measures that they do in partnership with a range of other sectors to support victims, to tackle perpetrators and enable women and girls to feel safe. Because at the heart of this is that loss of trust and confidence that we know we have to rebuild. And if we don't do that, we can't move forward. Does the list of violent men include police officers? At the heart, again, of the framework is an acceptance that we have to take seriously.

And we will prioritise, again, any allegations of perpetrated abuse by police officers or staff. That will be something. Prioritise it. So you said in your strategy today, review all current allegations of sexual misconduct, domestic abuse offences against officers and staff to ensure they're investigated quickly. How many are outstanding across England and Wales? I can come back with you with an exact figure on that,

but we know that every chief constable across our 43 forces is reviewing any allegations of are there a lot of these perpetrators you've got a vague figure i i think we will see more as we shine the light on the standards and conduct that we expect of police officers how we address misogyny at its worst sexism but are we talking tens here are we talking hundreds or are we talking thousands we will be we will see more and more cases. No, no, but of the ones you already have. So you've said you want a review of all current allegations. So these exist. How many are there at the moment? Roughly? I don't need to precise.

It will really vary across local forces. And as I said, I can't give you a figure today, but I know... Isn't that quite a key metric? I think it will be a key metric for us to be measuring as part of that improvement. I think part of the improvement will be seeing more cases coming to light. No, I get that. But how bad is the problem right now? How many police officers have been accused roughly of sexual misconduct or domestic abuse that are serving right now? Because I'm thinking about Wayne Cousins. I know that we need to ensure that our police officers have the highest standards of conduct and behaviour.

And I know that every chief constable across the country will be reviewing any and is already reviewing allegations. How bad's the problem? That's what I'm asking. I think it's a problem in our society, misogyny and sexism. And therefore that is reflected in policing. And we know that there may... Is it disproportionately affecting in police? and sexism and therefore that is reflected in policing and we know that there may is it disproportionately affecting in police because one of the women in that tape in that report said that she fears women met certain men with testosterone levels who like power are drawn

to the police we know that there may be men and there definitely are some men that are attracted into policing because of the possible use of power against vulnerability. And that happens in other professions as well. But it's something that we will not accept. There is no place in policing for any officer or member of staff to harm or abuse women. I think our listeners would be grateful. You've been on before. I'm happy that you've come back to talk to us.

I would think they would be grateful to hear that number and understand how big the police issue is. I recognise you don't have it today. But in terms of that culture within the police, for instance, we've just got a message here saying, does it mean it's now worth me reporting an ex-partner who was violent and abusive and had been with his previous partners? Will he now be investigated, watched or put on a list? What will be different for that person who's tested in? We want every woman and girl who is a victim of abuse or harm or violence to report to the police and feel it is safe to do so and that the response that they will have from every police force is a consistent one that will listen and will act and

will investigate. So it is important and the message for me today is to know that you can trust the police and please report in any violence or harm that you experience. It's a really important message of the framework. But going back to that cultural shift, this is the first time we are looking at a national framework for violence against women and girls. We know that there's a lot of activity that happens. Is that extraordinary?

It isn't extraordinary because we are 43 different organisations. And so one of the things that is not new violence against women and girls, is it? It's not. Why did it take what Wayne Cousins did for this to happen? I don't think it did just take that. But I think it was a watershed moment because of the the manner in which Sarah Everard was killed by a serving police officer is shocking and has rocked policing. But also the manner in which coming into the public eye have been so many cases of murdered women. For anyone working in domestic abuse or serious and sexual offences for years will know that this is tragically so common. But it is now in the public eye and perhaps also. So more coverage, not more offences. So it took for the police to be shaken by the response of the public and the coverage of the media to pull its finger

out and give you this new job. I think it has taken the tragedy of the murder of Sarah Everard to bring this into the public's mind. But it has also taken what's happened through the pandemic for a greater understanding of what happens behind closed doors and for policing to work with other sectors to say that we now need to have a fundamental shift because the level of this epidemic in terms of violence against women and girls what the data is telling us in terms of a threat assessment is so significant that we know we need to make some change. You've also said today increased use of domestic violence protection orders and stalking protection orders and swifter action on breaches. How are you going to actually increase that? Because aren't you then at risk of

more failed prosecutions which could undermine your work? This is a really, really complex area of work. What we're announcing today is to keep that focus on risk of the men usually men but the offenders that we know at local level to keep reviewing that risk to make sure that we're taking the opportunity to use all of the policing powers available to us and working with partners other orders available to manage that risk in the community to make sure that there is a constant review of the risk that some offenders present. What are the police not doing now they're going to be doing this? What are the UD prioritising to prioritise this?

Because we have also been told by police officers that staff shortages, pressure on the pandemic has led to all sorts of issues within the police. The pressure on policing is immense and the pressure coming out of the pandemic, not just on policing, but all on policing is immense and the pressure coming out of the pandemic not just on policing but all statutory services is immense and the workforce that deal in this particular area around serious and sexual offences domestic abuse is a workforce that is absolutely

committed to make a change and to make people to make women and girls feel safe. I know that because I've often been out and about with those teams. We have new officers coming into policing through uplift and we want to be sure that this area of work is a priority to those new officers. What's being deprioritised? We cannot deprioritise any work within policing. We have to constantly review where the threat sits at a local level and at a national level. Nationally we're saying that violence against women and girls has to be top of the list. It also has to sit top of the list with a range of other priorities. But we want to make sure that those offences that harm women and

girls are on a daily level reviewed and understood. Just finally, I know your time is precious that you have a lot to do this morning. But very, very briefly in that tape, in that report, we heard from Cheshire Police Force using some of the new Safer Streets money to try and use technology to improve the situation for women and girls. The idea of sending a woman a video call link. If they call 999, they can then click on,

be connected and recorded if they feel unsafe. Do you think that's the answer? I think the answer is a cultural shift in how violence against women and girls is prioritised. Just opening your email, getting 3G or 4G, managing to get yourself on, you're in the middle of something happening to you. Is that not slightly ludicrous?

We need to make sure that there's a system-wide response to VORG. Part of that will also be ensuring that we have the relentless focus on the men that present the risk to women and girls, which is what we've been talking about this morning. The third element, though, is a range of initiatives, a range of initiatives that may be localised. Do you think that's a good use of money, though? It will be one of many initiatives that...

What's your view on that one initiative? Is it a good use? If, in that local police area, the decision by a range of agencies working together to listen to women and girls is that is a way of keeping women and girls safe. That may be one priority of one initiative in one part of the country. What my framework is looking at is how can we evidence what is working? How can we make sure that we roll that out on a national level? And looking at some of the programmes like how we tackle rape and serious sexual offences, the opposite area, looking at specialist resources where we can, looking at reviewing risk of the offenders that come to detention of the police every day, looking at working in partnership with a range of other specialist

organisations and victim-led organisations at local level to commission support services for victims to encourage them to stay with the system and through the criminal justice process to get and bring perpetrators to justice. How helpful would it have been for the government to have made, or we don't know yet, but how helpful will it be if the government decides to go against the Law Commission and make misogyny a hate crime? We will await and see how the government responds to the Law Commission report from last week. Again, I think it's really important that it's about prioritising those crimes that impact on women and girls. Do you need a new crime? We need to use the powers available to us first

and to do that properly and efficiently. Can I get your opinion? You are in charge of coordinating these police forces' response to women and girls and safety. Do you think misogyny should be a hate crime? I want to listen to what the Law Commission says. We don't make the laws, we enforce them. It's out for a week, I'm sure you've read it. I have read it and I want to listen to what the Law Commission says. We don't make the laws, we enforce them. It's out for a week, I'm sure you've read it.

I have read it and I want to listen to the government response. But I also want to... You've listened to what the Law Commission has to say. Do you agree with it? They do not think that misogyny should be a hate crime. Maggie Blythe, I'll ask you again, should misogyny be a hate crime? I think we should first and foremost use the laws and the powers that are available to us

because I think they're in terms of public order. Of course you think that, you're a police officer. So we need to use those well. Do you need a new one? I don't think we need new powers, I think we need to use the new ones well and we need to continue to ensure that violence against women and girls is an absolute priority for policing and for other sectors. May I get an answer yes or no? Should misogyny be a hate crime? It is a simplistic response to a much more complex problem. Could I get a steer? From your perspective as the National Police Chiefs Council on violence against women and girls, should misogyny as a hate crime to understand the impact it's had on those police forces, those victims, those witnesses reporting in. So you don't know yet?

So we don't know. We will conclude that in March 2022. We will talk then. Based on then, I can come back and tell you. Thank you. We got there to try and understand why or how you're looking at this. Not every force is, but some are. Maggie Blythe, look forward to talking to you again.

Thank you very much indeed. why or how you're looking at this. Not every force is, but some are. Maggie Blyth, look forward to talking to you again. Thank you very much indeed. Well, listening to that is Amelia Handy, policy lead for Rape Crisis England and Wales. Good morning, Amelia. Good morning, hi. Just in terms of the strategy announced today, we had a bit of a sort of summary there right at the end from Maggie

before we got to misogyny as a hate crime. How confident are you in this? Because they want to talk, she's saying there, to people like yourself working on the ground, you know, on the front line of this. Yeah, so I would like to begin by saying that we at Rape Crisis really welcome the fact that this quite comprehensive framework has been published,

looking at the dual issues, really, of how police investigate violence against women and girls and our interests is particularly rape. And also how actually police vetting and police behaviour and actually rooting out systemic sexism and misogyny is committed to in that framework as well. So we actually welcome the framework as well as we welcome Maggie Blythe's appointment to coordinate what has been really a very piecemeal approach to policing violence against women and girls. We also really welcome the emphasis on male violence against women and girls, which the experience of rape crisis centres perpetrators are overwhelmingly men and boys, unfortunately. So we welcome the

framework and Maggie's appointment. However, we do advocate for a whole system approach. So much of what is driving poor police practice within the criminal justice system actually comes down to CPS culture and practice as well um to the crown prosecution service just to say yes yeah absolutely the crown prosecution service and the way that they have been addressing uh rape and serious sexual offenses in particular um with regards to risk averse uh decision making so what we're seeing is a negative feedback loop in the criminal justice system where actually you have the crown prosecution service pre-empting juries uh you have then police actually pre-empting cps decisions not to take cases forward and therefore ditching and dumping uh cases um rape cases in particular so this is

a really systemic issue that goes uh far beyond police, although it's absolutely imperative that police do respond appropriately to Borg. And one point that I did want to raise that is not explicitly outlined in the framework, but is implicitly within that is a reference to the scrutiny of women and girls who do report to the police, that actually police are essentially running victim credibility units and that they need to now switch focus to actually pursuing relentlessly perpetrators. I mean, a lot of our conversation just there with Maggie Blythe

was around the shift of focus, the shift of the culture, the shift of... Yes. And I suppose those things take time. It's just been announced, if you like, formally from her, but it has been something in the last few months, especially that pilot scheme has been cited a lot, I've noticed, in reports. I suppose, are you just waiting to see at this point?

I understand the point about the system-wide side of things and how that's going to change, but, you know, kind of how long are you giving it and what will be the metric of success for you? Well, this time last year, we published a report called the decriminalisation of rape. Within that report, I say we, it's other women's organisations from the sector as well. This report contained nearly 50 recommendations. We would say approximately five or six have been adopted and adapted and have been taken forward by government and criminal justice agencies. So we'll continue doing our influencing work. But in terms of timescales, we're really frustrated at this point.

There has been an absolute vortex of work happening. Not only the government's rape review, we have had HMIC, we've had inspectorate reports, some of which are ongoing. We have also had the joint national police and CPS action plan. And we have had many new advisors individuals appointed to take these issues forward and we're really hoping at this point that this framework and raggy's appointment will be that change that you've been looking for well hopefully you can help us amelia in uh in holding to account and seeing where we get to thank you very much for your time this morning all the best to to you and seeing where we get to. Thank you very much for your time this morning. All the best to you and your colleagues especially in the

run up to Christmas. Amelia Handy policy lead for Rape Crisis England and Wales. Of course what do you think? Do you get in touch? Let me know 84844 is the number you need to text. But you have also been getting in touch this morning and already some of you responding to that interview with Maggie Blythe

but some of you also getting in touch with regards to your side hustles, which brings me to my next guest. It has been, of course, a particularly stressful couple of years for staff working in the NHS, to put it mildly.

Junior doctors like Jess Duckworth have been on the front line. How have they coped? Well, Jess, when she isn't busy with patients at the Royal Devon and Exeter Hospital, has been treating herself and others in the hospital to some relaxation with her piano playing, combining her two passions,

music and medicine. She's researched the types and style of music that people do find relaxing and has resulted in her latest album called The Piano Doctor Volume 2, a year of reflective piano music. It'll be released in February, I should say, but the single Into the Light is out this week. Just take a listen. Good morning, Dr Jess Duckworth. Good morning. Thanks for having me on the show. Well, thank you for coming and giving us some music there and a real gift it is. And you found that, haven't you, with how people respond? Oh, Jess, I think you've just gone and frozen on me.

Oh, I'm hoping we can get you back. Just one moment. Let's see if we can stabilise that line. Jess, hello. Sorry, start your answer again. We didn't quite catch it. Yeah, so music is definitely my way of just switching off from everything. Anything that's happened in the day, music just takes me away from that straight away. And the idea and my hope for my music is that I can help other people do that as well. You know, it's peaceful, calming piano music. And I was going to say Into the Light, which we were just listening to. What's the inspiration behind that?

So if I give you sort of a general overview of the inspiration of my music, and then I can tell you, I think it puts it into context really nicely and so I as I said I write calming piano music and it is based on research oh we're again having a bit of a glitch you do make beautiful music but together we're not making stunning conversation here because of some technology issues um would you mind turning your camera off which is not because I don't wish to see you but because i think it might improve our our ability to have this conversation so you were saying you research what makes relaxing music and what have you found um so i i looked i investigated what types and styles of music people found relaxing. And music just has an incredible ability to enable us to switch off.

It affects a part of our brain called the limbic system, which has an impact on the way we feel and our emotions. And I wanted to be able to create music to have this effect and help people to calm and switch off and and so sort of as an overarching result from the research I found out that the the type of music that people want to switch off to in the majority of people is slow melodic piano music and I've I sort of brought that music into hospital waiting rooms and played it to people and spoke to them about how it made them feel um and got some incredible feedback that over 90% of those people felt that it calmed their anxieties before going to see the doctor or nurse and and is there a piano in is there a piano in the hospital where you work? There is, there is, yes.

It's situated literally in the chapel, which is just off the main corridor of the hospital. So with the chapel doors open, I can play and the sounds kind of wash down the main corridors of the hospital. You can flood that particular corridor with some of your beautiful, relaxing music. And in terms of, I mentioned there, right at the beginning of the programme, I mentioned about burnout for doctors, especially junior doctors. How has it been the pandemic for you and what are you feeling at the moment? Because we're into a new part of it. Yeah, I mean, it has it has been an incredibly challenging time for everyone.

And that includes every single person working in the NHS. I know as junior doctors from my year we were the group of doctors who started working before the pandemic and four months later you know we were in the peak of something that we've never experienced before so that in itself was it was really challenging and so many of us have been on the front line throughout the last couple of years um but it's all about supporting each other and it's about knowing where the support is when when we've needed it um and the hospital where I've worked has certainly been an incredibly supportive system you are going to be there on Christmas day I understand you have a shift uh booked in uh any music going to be there on Christmas Day I understand you have a shift booked in any music going to be played that day if you get a moment of course you don't know

well I'm just I'm going to play a little bit more of your your music from the album this one's called Beautiful Endings but before we hear it can you tell us the story? Absolutely yeah so so all the pieces that I write are inspired by my experiences in hospital as it's my way of reflecting what's happened. So and so beautiful endings. The story behind this is so every patient who comes into hospital goes on a journey. And our hope and aim for that journey is that it ends with them leaving hospital and going home to their families and the joy of that reunion of them seeing their families again has almost been amplified during the pandemic because during the height of it families couldn't come into hospitals and they couldn't see their loved ones and there are a few occasions I've seen of these really emotional reunions between patients and families and this piece is one

that I wrote about seeing and experiencing those really emotional reunions and the way that it's made everyone feel so and that's their beautiful ending to their hospital journey. Let's have a listen. Beautiful endings, composed and played by Dr Jess Duckworth. And may I say from all of us, thank you so much to you and your colleagues for all you have been doing and all you continue to do. And I hope you still have a very Merry Christmas, even on shift. Thank you so much. All the best, Jess Duckworth. And your messages have been brilliant about side hustles.

What you do on the side, perhaps then becomes your main thing. Maybe that will be Jess's future. Who knows? But Jenny says, four years ago, after leaving a job as a newspaper reporter due to the cost of having two small children in nursery,

I was working in freelance marketing. And as a side venture, I started growing pumpkins for a bit of fun. I love growing things. Now, four years on, I grow about 8,000 pumpkins a year on my small holding in Aberdeenshire. Thousands of people visit each year to pick pumpkins. I sell pumpkin growing kits, and I've even written a pumpkin cookbook. This is Jenny, who's emailed, do what you love. It's always worth a try. What a brilliant story.

A woman who knows stories, a former newspaper reporter. I had a side hustle as a face painter, reads this message, it's now my main job. It's such a great way to make art accessible to loads of people. I love to paint and most of my jobs are for grownup parties and weddings. It's excellent for my mental health to create things

and people feel good getting a little one-to-one attention. They indeed no name on that and joe says my side hustle is when i was 50 i decided to become a zumba instructor second time i've heard about zumba on today's program to teach the odd class after my normal job of working in a princess during lockdown i was furloughed from work so i took the opportunity to go for it with the zumba and started doing eight classes a week on zoom on video call at zumba and Bollywood dance fitness is now a huge part of my life. It's given me great self-confidence, especially after passing the 50 milestone. You are never too old for a new career. Wonderful. Joe, congratulations. Love that. More stories of side hustles, please, if you can. And of course, that may relate to the economic situation, of course, which we'll come

to now because statistics out this morning show UK inflation has increased to 5.1% last month, the highest in a decade, as you've been hearing in the news. That was after prices rose across the economy, including for fuel and food bills. Some observers are talking about she-flation, with some of the poorest in society, often women on low and part-time work being affected more or in different ways. What impact could it have on you and your family and those around you? With me, Professor Heather McGregor, who's the head of the business school at Heriot-Watt University, and many of you may know her for the column she wrote for the Financial Times

for many years as Mrs Moneypenny. Good morning. Good morning. What's your response to this rise announced and its steepness, Heather? Let's start there. Yes, well, Emma, I think it's slightly worse news than you just reported. You were mentioning the fact that the consumer price index has been reported as 5.1%. But actually, the retail price index, which is always reported at roughly the same time, came in at 7.2%. And there's a difference between those which is how they measure

the mortgages and and the payments um you know of housing and that you know that's not great news i mean underneath all of this is things like the fact that house prices have gone up very substantially and interestingly and i think this is very much a COVID effect, that the overall house price rise of 11.8% is very much bigger outside London than inside London. And this will be affecting rents, even if it doesn't affect rent immediately. There'll be a lag, of course, that people who are renting out their property

will find their mortgages are more expensive and then they will put up the rent. And inflation, let's not get away from this. Inflation is a regressive tax that is stealing money out of your pocket. And given that most women make purchasing decisions, I think something like 75 to 80 percent of all purchasing decisions are made by women. This isn't great news. And I was going to say to come more with the focus on women and especially those at the lower paid end of society, how will this play out? Well, the first thing, of course, is that basic things will become more expensive.

Again, COVID has had an overlay on this. So, for instance, foodstuffs and the issues with the supply chain have already played a part. And of course, that's what's driving this. That's what's driving the underneath inflation. It doesn't happen for no reason it happens because things become more difficult to do and more expensive to make happen um you know we don't have any lorry drivers so you to get more lorry drivers you have to pay people more money to become lorry drivers and the net result of that is what you look at in the supermarket costs more money so we've we've got a situation here where the price of everything is going up as a result of all these different factors. COVID has played a part. Brexit has played a part. The very big rush of the economy roaring back post-COVID has played a part.

So it is going to be tough for the people who have to manage money and let's face it most in most households it's women that are are running the household budget and are trying to make sure that people are fed and clothed that that's still the case that it's still the case it's still the case and you know it's still the case. And it's still the case, interestingly, that if you look at the amount of work done in the home, just the amount of which I regard, by the way running the family. And all the statistics show that women do more of that kind of work than men, even in households where they are both present. And in terms of what should be done or what could be done to help with all of this and the response, I mean, I was listening to Grant Shapps, of course, the Transport Secretary this morning, with my colleagues on the Today programme. And he said, you know, the Chancellor had preempted this,

had made account for this in the budget. Do you think enough has been done? I think there's two things that we as women can do. There's a short term thing and there's a long term thing. So in the short term, I think we all have to be ready to control our expenditure and to be thinking, you know, what is going to be our expenditure over the next year? What is discretionary? What is not? Where could we make savings if we had to, if it comes to if everything becomes more expensive? Because the truth is wages always lag. Wages always lag prices. Actually, the wage information that came out was that wages had actually gone up 4.9% year on year in the quarter through to the end of October. So we know that wages had actually gone up 4.9% year on year in the quarter through to the end of October.

So we know that wages are going up, but you might be one of the women listening to this whose salary has not gone up. And there's a short term and long term thing to do about that too. So first of all, what is the short term thing? If you are part of any kind of collective that negotiates on your behalf, then make sure you know what's going on there. And the second thing is, if you're in a different kind of job where you're personally negotiating pay then you need to start thinking about how are you going to do that and we know again from all the literature that women are not great at asking for pay rises um and then the final thing i would say is that if you ever needed an incentive to retrain and aspire to something else then then this is the time to do it. Well, that sort of brings us

to our side hustle conversation as well. Yes, and I was thinking about my side hustle. On the 23rd of March last year, Emma, when we were all told to go home, I just thought to myself, how am I going to add some value to myself in this? And I'm 60 in March and I went out and qualified as an accountant.

It's taken me five exams and I've done it all at night and the weekend um and it well you're a good person to have paying the the bills at home I think that's a that's extremely complimentary but well done you and thank you for sharing it I'm going to have to leave it there but Professor Heather McGregor and a new accountant as well thank you very much for talking to us and taking us through that Lucy says I'm a middle-aged woman who's been at the stadium announcer for the local football club for the past three years. And talking of side hustles, I absolutely

love it. I believe I'm the only female announcer in our league. And I'm paid in cheesy chips and cider. What's not to like? Cheesy chips are my favourite thing in the world. Lucy, please can I come and see you do your thing? That sounds absolutely wonderful. Long may it continue. Well, we were talking earlier, and I said

we were going to talk earlier, about the effects of the latest variant, the Omicron variant, leading to many cancelled plans across the UK. But what about the impact on teenagers, or quarantines, as they're being called by some? Many young people have seen serious impacts on their mental health as a result of lockdowns. We have discussed that here on the programme before. But today, let's focus on teenagers who, a particular group, they're basically okay, a lot better off than many, I should say, but maybe they have missed out on some major social milestones, parties, romances, you know, opportunities to be with their friends, which can, of course, be so formative. What is the impact of missing these moments, these milestones? Laverne Antrobus, a consultant child and educational

psychologist. Good morning. Good morning. Quarantine. You're a fan of that descriptor? That was a new one to me, but I actually love it. I think it's a really good term because actually, you know, for young people, the more they feel included in the debate, so the more they get thought about, I think that's really helpful. But I'm interested in this idea of, you know, what have they missed out on? And I think that, you know, you'd find a very different answer from probably everyone you ask, because the answers we expect might not be what they are going to say. Have a listen, please, with me to this and with to all of us, a mum who has three teenagers. I'm Rachel, and I've got five children, the oldest is 18, then I've got a 16-year-old, a 14-year-old,

a 12-year-old and an eight-year-old. I think particularly for the 18-year-old, it's been quite a hard time to do a coming of age. That transition between being a child and being an adult, they've missed out on quite a lot of the small incremental chances to practice independence. So she started at uni now and she's fine, but lots of the kind of bit by bit going away for a weekend or going out for the day with friends just hasn't really been happening. My 16 and 14 year old don't tend to go and hang out with friends. I think partly just because they've not been in the habit of doing so because there haven't been people they could mix with and there haven't been places that they could go.

I think in a way it feels like they're playing catch up. They're a year or two behind. And I think that they're lacking a lot of confidence around relationships, around friendships, because they haven't had that chance to practice being around people, to work out who they are, what they like, who they like being around, and just to play with those different versions of yourself, that you can be with different people. I think what I worry about is that the message is often to do with the fact that children need to catch up with academics because of time that they've missed in school. I think that children and young people really need

to catch up with time to experiment socially and they need to be given the time and opportunity to do that and that needs to be pushed almost more than the learning. So I think the learning will happen in time but I think it's such a crucial point in development of children and young people to suddenly miss it and expect them to come out as rounded adults at the end. It's a very big jump. How can we support the teenagers, the young people, in order for them to catch up with the things they've missed out on? Laverne, can I ask you to answer that? How can you support them to catch up with the things they've missed out on. Laverne, can I ask you to answer that? How can you support them to catch up on things they've missed out? Well, I think that Rachel's saying some really interesting things about the sort of milestones and the things that children,

young people would have been expecting to experience. But I do think that, you know, we are talking about a population of children who perhaps have got a little bit more resilience than others. And I, in my experience of visiting secondary schools, they are absolutely using every moment, squeezing every bit they can out of the social situations that they are in. You know, there are still those moments of being able to compare and contrast what they're doing. Yes, their sort of footsteps along the way aren't the same ones. There's lots of pauses. But I think that parents have to be talking to children about what they think they've missed, helping them plan what they're going to do when the pandemic restrictions are eased,

and maybe just keeping them in touch with a bit of hope. We are going to get there. We are going to come through this. I think schools staying open has been fundamental to this, because actually, you know, seeing children catching bus together, leaving school. These are still those moments of really comparing and thinking or being together in a way that is relational, which is so important. But I do think, you know, it is important as well to acknowledge that things have been missed. Can you can you replace them in any way? I think that they

are probably being replaced, not in pure form, by more time on their telephones or perhaps a bit more gaming. Parents are talking about noticing that they're up gaming a bit later. I would say these are the social situations that our children are hanging on to at the moment. And whilst it might look one way, just sort of pressing the console, you listen to the conversations they're having. They're still chatting about people that, you know, they might feel attracted to, or the parties that they might have. And I think some planning for the future around, you know, birthdays that are coming, what they would like to do, obviously, masses, massive of adjustments, masses of are going to have to be made.

But I think just having an eye on the future is really important. Are you worried about some of them going a bit wild when things are officially a bit more back to how they were, if they are going to be? Well, I wonder what that would really mean, because I think that your teenage years are about being slightly wild anyway. And I suppose the reset I would say to parents is don't sort of, don't get too worried about it because, you know, I suppose in a way we've all had a reset of our expectations, but,

you know, for most teenagers, there are quite a few wild moments in there. And I imagine they won't be any wilder than they would have been in ordinary circumstances. What's the very top tip you've got for supporting a teenager who is going through something and is a quarantine and missing out? I think it is really sort of taking the time to talk to them about it. I think that can never be underestimated because, you know, having your thoughts and feelings validated and looked after by your parent, I think is really important. But I think parents have got to be also very careful about, you know, laying the foundations for what's ahead, you know,

reminding them of the things that they can admire about what they're doing. I mean, children are young people are going to school, they are still studying hard, they are still working for their futures. And I think parents really need to put some emphasis on the things that they are noticing their children are doing well. And engaging with that and trying to perhaps focus on that as well as the times that we live in. Laverne Antrobus, thank you very much. A consultant child and educational psychologist talking about the effects of living with quarantines. Of course, if you've got that experience right now, do get in touch with us. Let me know on 84844.

We can always follow this up in another programme. Of course, you can email me via the Woman's Hour website. A lot of you, though, seem to be incredibly busy with your side hustles, which has also been a joy to hear about today. I'll be back with you

tomorrow at 10. That's all for today's Woman's Hour. Thank you so much for your time. Join us again for the next one. Sideways is back for another season with stories of incredible feats of endurance. Mountain climbers, we plod onward through avalanches and snowstorms

and occasional yetis. I'm Matthew Side, and in Sideways, you'll hear stories of bold thinkers and amazing lives. Stories of seeing the world differently. Subscribe to Sideways on BBC Sounds. I'm Sarah Treleaven, and for over a year, I've been working on one of the most complex stories I've ever covered. There was somebody out there who was faking pregnancies. I started, like, warning everybody. Every doula that I know.

It was fake. No pregnancy. And the deeper I dig, the more questions I unearth. How long has she been doing this? What does she have to gain from this? From CBC and the BBC World Service, The Con, Caitlin's Baby. It's a long story. Settle in.

Available now.