The 51%

Dec 06 2024 24 ep. 12 mins 100

The 51% Podcast artwork

A program about women who are reshaping our world. Join us every Friday at 4:15pm Paris time and check out our Facebook page: FRANCE24.51percent.

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The women who rebuilt and restored Notre Dame

Dec 06 2024 10 mins

As Paris celebrates the reopening of Notre Dame more than five years after it was destroyed by fire; Annette Young meets some of the women who have restored or rebuilt the historic cathedral. They talk of the challenges of bringing the 900-year-old building back to life as hundreds of skilled artisans from around the globe worked furiously to meet the December 2024 deadline. But al

How to carry out a visual detox: Ways to sharpen our visual critical thinking

Nov 29 2024 12 mins

With the advent of social media, our brains are receiving a constant stream of images. So how can we undergo a visual detox? Annette Young speaks to Marine Tanguy who has written a book on how to do just that. Also as we face a global epidemic of domestic violence, a novel approach in southern Italy offers survivors the opportunity to rebuild their lives by providing training and a

The Pelicot case: Will it change French attitudes towards rape?

Nov 22 2024 12 mins

In this special edition, Annette Young heads to Avignon as the Pelicot case enters its closing stages. For nearly a decade, Gisèle Pelicot was regularly drugged by her husband and offered up to strangers for sex. Now seen as the most notorious rape trial ever to be held in this country, we meet the local women who offer their support to the 72-year-old grandmother by decorating Av

Widespread rape in Sudan's civil war: Women and girls targeted by paramilitary

Nov 15 2024 12 mins

A spike in violence in Sudan's civil war sees a rise in the number of women and girls being raped by paramilitary Rapid Support Forces in the east of the country. Also what happens when men outnumber women in some cases as high as 25 percent in parts of eastern Germany, where young women have left for better opportunities elsewhere and how the far right stands to benefit. Plus taki

Women in Trump's America

Nov 08 2024 12 mins

What will Donald Trump's second term in the White House mean for women in America and how abortion rights will not be the only area under attack. Also what does the Trump victory mean for the war in Ukraine; Annette Young asks veteran war correspondent, Janine di Giovanni, who is now with The Reckoning Project which teaches journalists how to collect testimonies that can be used in

The gender gap in the US election

Nov 01 2024 15 mins

In a special edition, we're focusing on the US presidential election, which is no doubt the most momentous election ever for American women in the nation's history with the demise of Roe v. Wade in 2022. We are also witnessing a particularly large gender voting gap, with more men leaning towards the Republicans' Donald Trump, while the Democrats’ Kamala Harris is attracting a gre

Gisèle Pelicot takes the stand at mass rape trial

Oct 25 2024 13 mins

She is now probably the most famous French woman in the world. Gisèle Pelicot, the 72-year-old grandmother who was drugged unconscious so her husband and scores of other men could rape her, once again gives evidence at her rape trial. Also why ageism is never in style; Annette Young meets Jacynth Bassett, the woman behind the consultancy who is challenging outdated stereotypes. Pl

The real 'Miss Moneypenny': New book on history of women in British intelligence

Oct 18 2024 12 mins

So was Miss Moneypenny, as she was referred to in James Bond novels and films, a real person? It turns out, yes. Annette Young talks to Dr Claire Hubbard-Hall, the author of 'Her Secret Service: The Forgotten Women of British Intelligence' about the woman who inspired the character and why women do make better spies. Also as femicide continues to be a serious problem across the glo

Abortion rights and the US election: Will they swing the final result; or not?

Oct 11 2024 12 mins

This week, we're focusing on the upcoming US presidential election with the battle over abortion rights very much becoming front and centre of the campaign. It is the first election since the US Supreme Court's decision to overturn Roe v. Wade in 2022 which has dramatically impacted women's access to abortion; with 21 states now banning abortion or restricting the procedure earlier

French mass rape trial shocks the nation: Pelicot and the banality of evil

Oct 04 2024 12 mins

In a special edition, we take a look at several high-profile cases of rape and sexual violence which have made headlines in recent weeks including the Gisèle Pelicot trial in France. For nearly 10 years, her husband, Dominique Pelicot, routinely drugged his wife and invited scores of strangers to join him in raping her, often filming the encounters. In waiving her right to remain