Game BAFTAs, Baroness Kishwar Falkner, Football Fans

This episode of BBC Radio 4's Women's Hour explores multiple powerful themes, beginning with the 22nd BAFTA Games Awards, hosted by Els the Witch—a YouTuber and gaming influencer who celebrates the growing presence of women in gaming. She shares her journey from childhood gaming with her sister to building a career in content creation, highlighting how gaming offers escapism and community, especially for those with anxiety or grief. The conversation shifts to Baroness Kishwar Faulkner, former chair of the Equality and Human Rights Commission, who reflects on the challenges of her tenure, including online abuse and a cancer diagnosis, while criticizing the government’s delay in publishing guidance following the Supreme Court’s ruling on single-sex spaces. The episode then turns to the 'Away from Home' exhibition in Sunderland, which amplifies the stories of women football fans since the 1950s, revealing both progress and ongoing challenges around safety and gender equality in sports fandom. Finally, Imran Ahmed of the Centre for Countering Digital Hate exposes alarming findings about children as young as 13 being exposed to explicit content and grooming on X (formerly Twitter), calling for urgent regulatory action. The episode closes with a celebration of Sitlali Fabian, Photographer of the Year at the Sony World Photography Awards, whose black-and-white portraits of Indigenous women in Oaxaca, Mexico, blend photography with digital illustration to honor their stories and resilience.