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Today the National Union of Teachers begins its annual conference in Brighton.  A motion is being put forward on Discrimination of Older Women Teachers in the workplace and as part of that motion the NUT are calling on employers to take into account the difficulties that women may experience during the menopause, and that female workers should be able to expect support and assistance during what is, for many, a very difficult time. 

Sarah Veale is the TUC’s Head of Equalities and Employment Rights and Kathryn Colas founded the website Simplyhormones to help other women after quitting her job while she was going through the menopause, and Susannah Clements is Deputy Chief Executive of the CIPD (Chartered Intistitue of Personel Development).

Jayne Monkhouse has announced that she will step away from her role as equality

advisor to the Police Federation at the end of May – a role she’s worked in since

2001. For the 17 years preceding that she worked at the Equal Opportunities

Commission. She has helped to implement policies such as part time and flexible

working arrangements for police officers for the first time, and in 2010 was

awarded an OBE for services to equal opportunities and diversity. Jayne joins

Jenni to discuss the changes she’s seen in terms of gender equality in policing in

the last 30 years, and what work still needs to be done.

It’s an exciting time for women’s football.  The new season started this week with matches kicking off on Wednesday evening with Arsenal hosting Notts County and for the first time there will be two divisions and the signs are that this year the league is set to be more competitive than ever. There will also be much more coverage of women’s football on the ³ÉÈË¿ìÊÖ as the Football Association and the ³ÉÈË¿ìÊÖ have agreed a new deal for live radio commentary of matches on ³ÉÈË¿ìÊÖ Radio 5 Live Sports Extra, and of course there is the Women’s Football Show that has just started its new series on ³ÉÈË¿ìÊÖ Three.

Jenni is joined by Sue Smith, who holds 93 caps for England and currently plays for the Doncaster Belles, and Kelly Simmons, Director of Women’s Football for the FA.

The Edinburgh Seven are a group of women who became the first generation of female doctors.  Surprisingly there is not much fiction about this remarkable group of women but a new novel by Sarah Moss does address this perhaps overlooked milestone for women.  Bodies of Light is Sarah’s third novel and it was published last week.