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Lady Justice Hallett; Extreme commutes; Honour killings

With guest Lady Justice Hallett, and discussion on extreme commutes.

Power lister, Lady Justice Hallett talks about being the first woman to chair the Bar Council and acting as the Coroner at the inquest into the July 7th London bombings in 2005.

If your journey to work takes you longer than 90 minutes in one direction you are officially an 'extreme commuter', a group that is ever-increasing in numbers. How do people juggle family life with these long commutes and are they right to choose to do them?

Death in the name of "honour" - when women are killed because they have supposedly brought shame on their family it hits the headlines. But in the media frenzy, do we consider the real women who lose their lives, or do they just become statistics? Jenni Murray talks to the women who have written a new play on honour killings premiering in London this week, which aims to help us remember them.

Presenter:Jenni Murray
Producer: Bernadette McConnell.

Available now

58 minutes

Chapters

  • Lady Justice Hallett

    Woman's Hour Powerlister, Lady Justice Hallett, the first woman to chair the Bar Council.

    Duration: 10:40

  • Extreme Commuting

    A journey of more than 90 mins in 1 direction. With Elaine Davidson & Tom Hodgkinson.

    Duration: 10:50

  • Mrs Leather's Carols

    Roy Palmer has edited a collection of songs: Twelve Traditional Carols from Herefordshire

    Duration: 07:11

  • Twelve: A new play about 'Honour' Killings

    Writer/performer Yasmeen Khan & Janet Steel of Kali Theatre, on the new play Twelve.

    Duration: 09:33

  • Advent Treat

    Rebecca and Jeremy Front with their advent calendar treat.

    Duration: 03:11

Lady Justice Hallett

Lady Justice Hallett was eighth on the Woman's Hour听Power List. She is one of the country鈥檚 leading appeal court judges and she was the first woman to chair the Bar Council in 1998. She acted as the Coroner at the inquest into the July 7th London bombings in 2005, a role which won her great praise for the dignity and humanity she brought to the proceedings. She joins Jenni to discuss her career and her place on the Power List.

Extreme commuting

If your journey to work takes you longer than 90 minutes in one direction you are officially an 鈥榚xtreme commuter鈥, a group that is ever-increasing in numbers. 鈥淓xtreme Commute鈥 is the subject of a programme which is due to be broadcast on Radio Four on Friday, December 27th at 11am. It features various people who spend at least five hours a day commuting. So why do they do it and are they right to choose to do it? Jenni Murray speaks to extreme commuter Elaine Davison, and Tom Hodgkinson, editor of the Idler magazine and the author of 鈥淭he Idle Parent.

Mrs Leather's carols

On the whole we know Christmas carols by heart, whether it鈥檚 Away in a Manger or O Come all Ye Faithful. Many carols have their roots in local folklore and songs, and some of them were collected together by Ella Mary Leather and the composer Ralph Vaughan Williams. Mrs Leather travelled around Herefordshire making friends with singers, many of whom were gypsies and itinerant hop pickers, and recorded their songs听on wax cylinders. She died in 1927, and was said to have never fully recovered from the death of her son in the First World War. The musicologist, Roy Palmer, has edited a collection of the songs, 鈥楾welve Traditional Carols from Herefordshire鈥 which were out of print for over a century.

Honour killings

In 2004, Scotland Yard reported that 12 women per year are victims of honour

killings in the UK. The figure hasn鈥檛 been revised since then 鈥 though 200 Honour

Based Violence cases were brought before the CPS last year in the UK. Whilst the

authorities are getting better at recognising and successfully prosecuting

perpetrators of honour based violence, it is feared that the real numbers of women

who are killed each year in the name of honour could be much higher. This week,

, a company which works exclusively with South Asian women

playwrights, are debuting their new production , which aims to give a voice

to all women who have been victims of honour killings. The play is a series of 12

monologues, written from the perspective of fictional characters involved in honour

killings, and also includes some real testimony from survivors. Jenni speaks to

Janet Steel, the creative director of Kali Theatre, and Yasmeen Khan, one of the

writers and performers of Twelve.

Advent Treat

Rebecca and Jeremy Front with their advent calendar treat.

Credits

Role Contributor
Presenter Jenni Murray
Interviewed Guest Heather Hallett
Producer Bernadette McConnell

Broadcasts

  • Fri 13 Dec 2013 10:00
  • Fri 13 Dec 2013 10:30

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