The Conversation

Spectacular volcanic eruptions on earth and in space - Kim Chakanetsa unites two women who share a deep love of volcanoes. Janine Krippner is from New Zealand, and as a child visited Ngauruhoe - the volcano made famous as Mount Doom in the Lord of the Rings films - and had an intense feeling that this is where she belonged. Years later she found herself inside the crater collecting research data. Janine is now based at the University of Pittsburgh and studies remote volcanoes in Russia and the US and looks for clues as to how super-fast flows of hot gas and rocks called pyroclastic flows travel after eruptions. Rosaly Lopes is a Senior Research Scientist at NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory, and she is also Manager of the Planetary Science Section. Born and raised in Brazil, Rosaly has visited over 60 active volcanoes on every continent, but as exciting as she finds these trips, volcanoes on other planets are her real focus. She has personally discovered 71 active volcanoes on Jupiter's moon Io, which has earned her a place in the record books.Image and credit (L): Janine Krippner in front of Osorno volcano, Los Lagos Region, southern Chile Image and credit (R): Rosaly Lopes on Mount Yasur volcano, Tanna Island, Vanuatu

Two doctors at the epicentre of the AIDS crisis - Glenda Gray and Wafaa El-Sadr - have worked tirelessly to care for those affected by the virus, to combat its spread, and to get the drugs to those who need it.Glenda Gray is a South African paediatrician and world-renowned scientist who currently directs the HIV Vaccine Trials study, which is the largest of its kind ever conducted in South Africa. Thanks in part to her work on mother-to-child transmission, the number of babies born with HIV has dropped dramatically from 600,000 a year to 150,000. Glenda herself grew up under Apartheid in a family of activists, and carried on her fight for social justice into medical school and beyond. Wafaa El-Sadr is director of ICAP based at Columbia University in New York. Born in Egypt to a family of physicians, Wafaa was working as a young doctor in Harlem, when the first AIDS cases began to appear in the 1980s. She didn't know she was witnessing the start of an epidemic that was to sweep across the globe. Wafaa helped develop a treatment programme that is now used as a model around the world.Image: (L) Glenda Gray (credit: JP Crouch Photography) and (R) Wafaa El-Sadr (credit: Michael Dames)

Cities that come alive at night, with two women who know where to go and what to do. Kim Chakanetsa speaks to a DJ from Lebanon and a singer-songwriter from China who take her on a virtual tour of their favourite nightlife scenes.Nicole Moudaber is a Nigerian-born Lebanese DJ and music producer. Nicole began exploring Beirut's nightlife as a promoter, hosting successful club nights for years before turning her hands to the decks. She has since been described as one of the best techno DJs on the scene, sharing her distinct beats with the nightlife scenes in New York, Ibiza and beyond.ChaCha Yehaiyahan is regarded as the queen of the underground music scene in Shanghai, a city that is a far cry from the rural mountainous village she grew up in in southwest China. She left home at 16 with her sights firmly set on the bright lights of Beijing, and wound up in Shanghai, which she says has a nightlife scene unparalleled in China.Image: (L) ChaCha Yehaiyahan. Credit: AJ Schokora Image: (R) Nicole Moudaber. Credit: Woolhouse Studios

Two archaeologists take us on an underwater adventure to uncover secrets about our past. Between them they've explored wooden vessels dating back hundreds of years, discovered Roman statues in the Mediterranean and Chinese ceramics in the Gulf of Thailand, and even stumbled upon what may be an Aboriginal rubbish dump.Pornnatcha 'Jo' Sankhaprasit is Thailand's first ever female underwater archaeologist. She grew up in the Thai mountains and didn't even see the sea until she was nine years old. She's always had a passion for history and adventure, and she was drawn to marine archaeology because sites are often far better preserved underwater than on land. However the water, and deep dives in particular, still scare her - and the breathing apparatus weighs more than she does! But it's all worth it when she gets to work on ancient wrecks like the well-preserved Chinese ship that sank in the Gulf of Thailand more than 500 years ago.Sarah Ward is a renowned maritime archaeologist from Australia, who has a vast and varied experience in her field. She has worked on underwater archaeological sites from a Roman wreck off the coast of Turkey, to the Tudor flagship, the Mary Rose, and a warship that sank off the coast of Argentina in 1790. These days she works mainly on commercial maritime projects, carrying out detailed surveys and excavations of harbours, ports and other coastal sites.(L) Image: Sarah Ward. Credit:Surface Supplied Diver Training (R) Image: Pornnatcha Sankhaprasit. Credit: Ian McCann

Anoushka Shankar on sitar and Kasiva Mutua on drums...two celebrated female musicians talk to Kim Chakanetsa about their paths to mastering instruments more traditionally played by men.Anoushka Shankar's father, the legendary Indian sitar player Ravi Shankar taught her to play the instrument from the age of 9. She first performed in public with her father at 13 and got a recording contract as soon as she finished school. She says growing up surrounded by music actually meant she had a complicated relationship with it, involving both love and fear. Despite that she decided to embrace the sitar on her own terms and is now heralded as probably the best female player in the world, making nine solo albums and receiving six Grammy nominations for her work. Anoushka says she's now experimenting with her music in ways she wished she had done 20 years ago.Kasiva Mutua is a Kenyan percussionist who discovered her love for drums at a young age, finding rhythms in her grandmother's stories and in the everyday sounds around her. She pursued drumming in secret throughout her teenage years before deciding to make a career of it - much to the dismay of her family and the wider community; female drumming in Kenya is considered taboo. Determined to follow her passion Kasiva is now an internationally touring drummer and part of the African music initiative The Nile Project. She says she had to fight to play - but it's all been worth it.(L) Image: Kasiva Mutua on drums at the Miami Dade NP Concert in 2015 US Tour. Credit: Jim Virga (R) Image: Anoushka Shankar with sitar. Credit: Jamie-James Medina / Deutsche Grammophon

Forget the wicked witch or the pretty princess - a new generation of women in animation are doing away with cartoon cliches. Kim Chakanetsa talks to two women doing their bit to ensure that female characters are accurately drawn from life, rather than stereotypes.Niki Yang grew up in South Korea visiting comic book rooms and watching Japanese anime on TV - which helped her realise her passion for drawing and storytelling. Niki established her own career in animation when she moved to Los Angeles more than a decade ago. She's since worked on a number of well-known cartoons including Family Guy and Adventure Time. She says the birth of her son has introduced a new humour to her life and work.Aliki Theofilopoulos is a Greek-American television writer and animator, who's currently working at DreamWorks. As a child she loved watching slapstick cartoons like Bugs Bunny and Looney Tunes, but it was Disney's Dumbo that truly inspired her to work in animation. In a career spanning more than 20 years, Aliki has worked on household hits like Mulan and Hercules. She's also worked on popular TV series Phineas and Ferb which sees two step-brothers invent wonderful and wacky machines. Image: Niki Yang (l) and Aliki Theofilopoulos (r) Credit: Niki Yang (l) & Epic Imagery (r)

Calculator tricks and baking cakes - how two female mathematicians help people have fun with maths. Eugenia Cheng's aim is to rid the world of 'math phobia' and she uses baking to explain complex mathematical ideas to the general public, via her books and YouTube channel. For instance, she makes puff pastry to reveal how exponential growth works. Eugenia has taught Pure Mathematics at universities in the UK, France and US and is currently Scientist in Residence at the School of the Art Institute of Chicago. Her most recent book is called Beyond Infinity: An Expedition to the Outer Limits of the Mathematical Universe. Sara Santos engages the unsuspecting public in maths through a kind of street performance. Originally from Portugal, Sara now runs a company called Maths Busking in the UK, and tours festivals, schools and corporate events wearing a yellow top hat and doing maths for people's amusement. Her 'tricks' include tying people up with ropes and guessing their birthdays. Sara says the idea that only very clever people are good at maths is rubbish; anyone can do it. (L) Image and credit: Eugenia Cheng (R) Image: Sara Santos. Credit: Paul Clarke

Growing up with a name that has resonance around the world - and a father with a towering reputation. That's been the experience of Samia Nkrumah and Noo Saro-Wiwa. We'll hear about the pride and burdens they carry with them, and how their fathers' untimely deaths have shaped their lives.Samia Nkrumah is the daughter of Ghana's first president, Kwame Nkrumah - the man who led his country to independence in 1957, and became an international symbol of freedom as the leader of the first African country to shake off the chains of colonial rule. Samia was just 11 at the time of her father's death, and hadn't seen him for six years, after the family were separated following his overthrow. Still, Samia decided to follow her father into politics and currently chairs the Convention People's Party, a political party in Ghana founded by her father.Noo Saro-Wiwa is the daughter of Ken Saro-Wiwa, the Nigerian writer and environmental activist who was killed in 1995 after leading peaceful protests against the oil industry in his home region of Ogoniland. Noo was a 19-year-old student at the time of his death. She went on to become a journalist and author based in the UK - she has written an account of her own journey around Nigeria called 'Looking for Transwonderland'.Image: Samia Nkrumah (credit: Samia Nkrumah) (l) and NooSaro-Wiwa (credit: Michael Wharley) (r)

What draws women to motorbikes, whether it's weaving them through traffic or seeing the world from one? Kim Chakanetsa asks two women from Poland and Kenya who spend their lives in the saddle. Aleksandra 'Ola' Trzaskowska's love of motorbikes is not about the machine itself - it's about the thrill of seeing new places from the best vantage point. She used to be a lawyer in Warsaw but gave it up to do what she loves. Ola now runs tours on two wheels to Asia, North Africa and both American continents. On her own trips she always aims to steer off the beaten track - preferring to explore countries like Afghanistan alone. Even breaking her leg in a road accident in Cuba hasn't put her off - as soon as it's mended she'll be straight back on her bike. Naomi Irungu took up bikes two years ago when she met her motorcycle-mad husband. She had always wanted to try but was warned off by her family after her uncle died in a motorbike accident. Naomi says it can be exhilarating and scary riding through rush-hour traffic in Nairobi, dodging the matatus and the taxi-bikes that jostle for road space. She loves to get out of the city on longer rides and for her recent wedding she was picked up by a 15 strong motorcade of biker friends.L-Image and credit: Ola Trzaskowska R-Image and credit: Naomi Irungu

The power of art to change lives. Two women talk to Kim Chakanetsa about how they use art to enable refugees, asylum seekers and young women to find their creative voice.Isha Fofana is a Gambian artist who set up an art centre in her country to encourage young women to pursue their artistic talents. Although she showed an interest in art at a young age, she was not fully able to explore it until she was much older. Her canvasses are often large and extremely colourful, capturing the joy and power she sees in the women around her. Zeina Iaali is a Lebanese-Australian artist who volunteers at the Refugee Art Project in Sydney, which supports refugees and asylum seekers to tell their stories through art. Her own artwork revolves around her experiences as a Muslim woman in Australia. She says art has the power to bring people together, and that's where magic happens.Photo: (L) Zeina Iaali. Credit: Refugee Art Project. (R) Isha Fofana. Credit: Mama Africa)

Prayers and preparation for the apocalypse - two women share with Kim Chakanetsa their experiences of life in strict religious communities they would call cults.Natacha Tormey was born into an international evangelical group and led a highly regimented life in communes in Thailand, Indonesia and France. She says physical discipline and sexual abuse were common, and as children they were separated from their parents. As a teenager she began to question the ideas of the leaders, and at 18 she left the cult and her family behind. Natacha has now settled in the UK and is the author of 'Cults - A Bloodstained History'. Claire Ashman grew up in a strict religious community in Australia. She left at 18 to get married, but a few years later her husband joined them up to what she now calls a doomsday cult. Claire and her eight children spent their life behind barbed wire fences and there was limited contact with the outside world. Much time was spent preparing for an impending apocalypse. A decade ago, Claire and her family left. She now calls herself an anti-cult activist.Photo and credit: (L) Claire Ashman Photo and credit: (R) Natacha Tormey

What's life like when women are in charge? Kim Chakanetsa talks to two women who've formed close ties with matriarchal communities in China and India, and who've gone onto document their experiences.Choo Waihong is a former high-flying lawyer from Singapore who quit her job to move to a remote part of China to live with the Mosuo tribe. This is one of the last matrilineal and matriarchal societies on earth. That means that the family descends from the female bloodline, and that women also hold the ultimate power in the community. Waihong ended up building a house among the Mosuo, and has written a book about her experiences called 'Kingdom of Women.'Karolin Klüppel is a German photographer who travelled to the remote north-east of India to get to know the Khasi people, who live in families where women inherit property, and children take the mother's name. Karolin was struck by the self-confidence of the young girls, and she set about making portraits of the children, which form part of her photo series, 'Mädchenland' or 'Kingdom of Girls.'Image and credit Choo Waihong (l) and Karolin Klueppel (r)

'I will ride cancer; cancer will not ride me'. An Indian dancer and a Jamaican athlete who were diagnosed with breast cancer at the peak of their physical condition tell Kim Chakanetsa how they got through their treatment by focussing on their passions. Novlene Williams-Mills is an exceptional Jamaican sprinter who has competed - and won medals - in four Olympic Games. In 2012, just before the London Olympics, she found out she had breast cancer. Despite the diagnosis, she decided to compete, and helped Jamaica bring home a bronze medal in the 400 metre relay. Four surgeries later, she is cancer-free. Throughout her treatment Novlene continued to run because when she's on the track, she says all her problems disappear.Ananda Shankar Jayant is an award-winning Indian dancer and choreographer, known for her talent in two classical dance forms Bharatanatyam and Kuchipudi. She says as soon as she was diagnosed with breast cancer in 2008, she made a decision that she would not succumb to the 'bogeyman' of cancer, and would keep dancing, even through chemotherapy. By focussing on her what she loves to do, she says she was able to stay positive. Now also all-clear, Ananda continues to teach and perform dance, and recently launched a dance app called Natyarambha.L-Image: Novlene Williams-Mills. Credit: Matthew Lewis/Getty Images R-Image: Ananda Shankar Jayant. Credit: G Muralidhar

Female interpreters discuss being voices for vulnerable people. Kim Chakanetsa brings together two women, one who interprets for medical patients, and one who helps refugees apply for asylum. They talk about the pressures and the joys of what they say is an under-valued job.Teodora Manea Hauskeller is a Romanian who works as a medical interpreter in the UK, easing understanding between doctors and patients who don't speak English. She is present in the room when potentially scary diagnoses are being given, and says the responsibility and emotion of this kind of work can be quite tough, but it can also be very rewarding. Mariam Massarat is an Iranian-American interpreter, who specialises in translating for Farsi-speaking asylum seekers and refugees in the US. She gets to know her clients and puts them at their ease before they go into the asylum interview, and then she acts as their voice for up to six hours. If the interview is successful, and they are granted asylum, she loves to hear what they go on to do in their new lives. Image: Mariam Massarat (L) and Teodora Manea Hauskeller (R)

How do you capture and bottle a scent? Two perfume makers from France and Malaysia talk to Kim Chakanetsa about how they've trained their noses to smell over 1,000 different raw ingredients. They explain why a scent made for the European market wouldn't sell so well in Japan, and which smells they simply cannot stand.Shyamala Maisondieu is a fine fragrance perfumer originally from Malaysia, who now works for Givaudan in Paris, one of the world's largest perfume manufacturers. Shyamala says her childhood in south-east Asia influenced the scents she is drawn to, from frangipani blossoms to jasmine and ginger. She has dreamed up fragrances for brands such as Tom Ford and Comme des Garçons.Caroline Gaillardot is a perfumer who specialises in creating scents for beauty care products, including shampoos, shower gels and deodorants. She was born in Grasse, France, which has long been the centre of the perfume world, although she says she wanted to become a perfumer simply because she always loved to smell. She now works for Mane in southern France, which is one of the global leaders in the industry.L-Image and credit: Shyamala Maisondieu R-Image and credit: Caroline Gaillardot

What's it like to work closely with animals? Two women in charge of the day-to-day care of penguins and primates reveal the true nature of the job. They tell Kim Chakanetsa why it's best to avoid a penguin's beak, how chimps might respond to a leather jacket, and whether they think wild animals should be kept in captivity at all.Shanet Rutgers has the delightful job title 'Head of Penguins' at the Two Oceans Aquarium in Cape Town, South Africa. Shanet first visited the aquarium as a child, and decided straightaway that she wanted to work there. She fondly describes the penguins as 'ridiculous animals' - and says feeding them has made her more considerate about her own diet. Shanet is passionate about the role of zoos and aquariums in educating the public about the natural world.Laura Hanley is Senior Keeper of Primates at Monarto Zoo in South Australia - one of the largest open-range zoos in the world. The animals are kept in large enclosures, and visitors are driven around the complex in vehicles. Laura is in charge of a troop of eight chimpanzees, each with its own distinct personality. Despite working closely with the chimps, Laura says its important to maintain your distance and keep a respect for the animals. She hopes they can play a role in raising awareness about the plight of chimps in the wild.(L) Image: Shanet Rutgers, Head of Penguins. Credit: n/a (R) Image: Laura Hanley, Senior Keepers of Primates. Credit: Nicky Tomkinson

Two women lawyers in Alabama who are making history in the courtroom in their own ways. Kim Chakanetsa meets them inside the famous federal courthouse in Montgomery, where historic civil rights rulings were made in the 1950's and 60's.At 28, Briana Westry-Robinson is Alabama's youngest ever female African-American judge. Graduating from high school at 16, and university at 19, Judge Westry-Robinson now presides over a district court in one of the poorest counties in Alabama. She says her age is an advantage in this job, because she can still identify with the juveniles who appear before her, and her aim where possible is to give them a second chance, rather than to punish. Danielle Ward Mason is an award-winning trial lawyer, who specialises in fighting cases where medical devices and drugs may be harmful to women. She is considered to be one of the top personal injury lawyers in the state, and has won some of the largest pay-outs for her clients in the country. Danielle had a baby at 19, and put her legal dreams on hold for a decade, but then decided to go for it, and now her advice for aspiring young women is 'don't ever say what you can't do'.Image: Danielle Ward Mason, presenter Kim Chakanetsa and Briana Westry-Robinson. Credit: United States Court for The Middle District of Alabama, USA

Two women who emigrated to the US from Asia and both became writers talk to guest presenter Lauren Schiller in San Francisco about their 'messy' relationship with language, their rejection of the American Dream, and how they're trying to break free from labels.Barbara Jane Reyes is a poet, whose work explores language, culture and identity. She was born in Manila in the Philippines, and raised in the San Francisco Bay Area. She started writing seriously as a student - when there were very few writers who were voicing her own immigrant experience. She now teaches Philippine Studies at the University of San Francisco and is the author of four books of poetry. She is due to publish her fifth collection, Invocation to Daughters, later this year. Yiyun Li is an award-winning writer. She grew up in Beijing, and moved to the US when she was in her early 20s to study immunology. It was after she had arrived in Iowa and adopted English as her own language that she decided to make the leap from science to creative writing. She has published four works of fiction, and numerous essays. Her latest book is called 'Dear Friend, from My Life I Write to You in Your Life' and it was written while she grappled with depression and was finding solace in other writers. Yiyun teaches creative writing at UC Davis.Image: Barbara Jane Reyes (left) (credit: Oscar Bermeo) and Yiyun Li (right) (credit: Roger Turesson)

LGBT women from different generations in San Francisco talk to guest presenter Lauren Schiller about their sexuality, the city and the changes they've seen in society over the years.Kate Kendell has been described as America's 'Head Lesbian'. She is Director of the National Center for Lesbian Rights, which fights for the legal rights of LGBT people. She grew up in a Mormon family in Utah, and says that when she moved to San Francisco in 1994 her life went 'from monochrome to Kodachrome.' Kate was heavily involved for the fight for equal marriage in California, and married her own long-time partner Sandy in 2008. They have three children.Robyn Exton founded a dating app for lesbian, bisexual and queer women in London in 2013, but two years ago she relocated to San Francisco to be closer to her investors. She also relaunched the app under the name Her - and it's now available in 55 countries. For Robyn, San Francisco has much to offer as a tech hub, but less in terms of the nightlife and parties she enjoys. She says the city is no longer the gay mecca it once was - and she is sad about the demise of the lesbian bar.Image: (L) Robyn Exton. Credit: Helena Price. Image: (R) Kate Kendell. Credit: NCLR.

Two mothers who lost their sons to gun violence meet up with Kim Chakanetsa in New York. This is the first of a month-long series of Conversations with women in the United States, from Alabama to San Francisco. Nicole Hockley's son Dylan was six when an armed man burst into Sandy Hook Elementary School in December 2012, killing 26 children and adults. It remains the deadliest school shooting in US history. Nicole says the fabric of the universe was torn apart that day and she has been trying to repair it ever since. Her organisation Sandy Hook Promise is now spreading school violence prevention programmes nationwide. She says these are "not about the gun" - they are about trying to stop the violence before guns are ever involved. Just a few weeks before the tragedy at Sandy Hook, Lucy McBath's 17-year-old son Jordan Davis was shot dead at a gas station in Jacksonville, Florida. Jordan was African American and the shooter was a middle-aged white man. Lucy believes race and America's gun laws both played their part in her child's murder, and she now speaks out in his memory. She is faith and outreach leader for Moms Demand Action for Gun Sense in America, and Every Town for Gun Safety.Image: (L) Lucy McBath and (R) Nicole Hockley Credit: n/a

Two women trying to get into the mind of the serial killer talk to Kim Chakanetsa about the craft of crime fiction. We hear what they're most afraid of, how writing about grim subjects has altered their outlook on life and whether women are particularly good at this genre. Patricia Cornwell is probably the best known female crime writer in the world. Credited with creating the 'forensic thriller', Patricia has sold over 100 million books across the globe and recently published the 24th book in her hugely popular Kay Scarpetta series. Patricia has also long been fascinated by Jack the Ripper, the infamous Victorian serial killer, and has written her own account of his possible identity.Angela Makholwa is a former South African journalist who first got into crime writing after interviewing the real-life serial killer, Moses Sithole, in prison. Her debut novel Red Ink was loosely based on those experiences. She says the role of the writer is to confront the things we all want to run away from. She has since written two more novels and says she enjoys reading crime fiction from Scandinavia, given that she writes about such a radically different part of the world. Angela lives and works in Johannesburg.(L) Image: Patricia Cornwell. Credit: Patrick Ecclesine. (R) Image and credit: Angela Makholwa.

Models challenging perceptions of female beauty talk to Kim Chakanetsa about how the industry is becoming more diverse, why they decided to take up modelling in the first place, and how to maintain that all-important inner confidence. Alex Bruni, originally from Italy, did not start modelling until she was in her late 40s. It was when people began to compliment her on her long, grey hair that she first decided to give it a go. Now nearly 60, she has a successful career as an older model and is keen to put a positive spin on ageing. She tells us to 'embrace the grey'.Mahalia Handley describes herself as a plus-size or curvy model. As a mixed-race, 'chubby' child in small-town Australia, Mahalia rarely saw images of women who resembled her. But she was determined to become a model. Now, aged 24, she has worked for the likes of Vogue, Selfridges and Cosmopolitan. She hopes to be the role model that she never had.Image: (L) Alex Bruni. Credit: Wendy Carrig. Image: (R) Mahalia Handley. Credit: Pepo Fernandez.

Two of the strongest women in the world join Kim Chakanetsa to explain what it's like to be able to out-lift most men.Kristin Rhodes has muscled her way to America's Strongest Woman status seven times. A mother and child-care provider from San Diego, for the last decade she has reigned supreme nationally, and has set three women's world records for strength. When she started out, she was competing in parking lots and winning just a handshake - now she performs in big venues to huge crowds. Kristin is proud to have been instrumental in getting the women's game the recognition she believes it deserves, and to have inspired other women to become stronger themselves.Andrea Thompson is a relative newcomer to strength competitions, having only started weight-lifting two years ago when a coach spotted her in the gym in Suffolk. She's already been declared Britain's Strongest Woman and is hoping to add more medals this year. Andrea says she has always been big, and initially began exercising to lose weight after having her children, but now she has so much muscle she weighs more than she did before. However, finding out the feats her body is capable of has amazed her, and she now loves her larger build.(L) Image: Kristin Rhodes. Credit: Strongman Corporation. (R) Image: Andrea Thompson. Credit: Strongman Corporation.

Two leading female make-up artists speak to Kim Chakanetsa on the power of powder to create looks, moods and characters.Alex Box is a British internationally-renowned fashion make-up artist. Her work is artistic, colourful and unique. Alex's background is in fine art, and she uses that as an inspiration to constantly push the boundaries of her work.Charu Khurana is the first official female make-up artist in Bollywood. She spent years fighting against an informal ban on women working in the film industry across India. Charu is now one of the few professionals in her field to be trained in handling prosthetics.Image: (L) Charu Khurana (credit: N/A) and (R) Alex Box (credit: Elizabeth Hoff)

Talented women cricketers from the West Indies and New Zealand chat to Kim Chakanetsa about how they've gone from playing cricket with the boys as kids to record-breaking achievements with their teams.Merissa Aguilleira is from Trinidad and plays for the West Indies women's side. As well as a six year stint as team captain, Merissa contributed to their success in becoming Twenty20 World Champions in 2016. Her achievements seem all the more impressive when you realise that she only started playing 'real' cricket at 16, and initially her instinct was to run away from the hard ball! She talks about the importance of breaking down stereotypes by being unafraid to boast about women's achievements.Sophie Devine is Vice Captain of the White Ferns, New Zealand's women's team. She also plays in the Australian Women's Big Bash League, and says the popularity of women's cricket there is going through the roof. As a Type 1 diabetic, Sophie says her condition has never been a barrier to sporting success, and she truly believes in the power of sport to change lives.(L) Sophie Devine (credit: Stefan Gosatti/Getty Images) and (R) Merissa Aguilleira (WICB Media/Randy Brooks of Brooks Latouche Photography)

Women who make wine in Argentina and Italy talk to Kim Chakanetsa about the labour and love that goes into a great glass of wine.Susana Balbo has been making a name for herself in the wine world for over 30 years. She was the first woman in Argentina to graduate with a degree in winemaking, and in 1999 she launched her own label in her hometown, Mendoza. She was also the first woman president of Wines of Argentina, an organisation that promotes the country's wine industry to a global market. Today she produces 3.5 million bottles per year - almost all of which are destined for the export market. She explains how she produces high-quality wines at high altitude, and in a challenging desert climate.Julia Walch is part of a matriarchy of winemakers in the South Tyrol in Northern Italy. Julia grew up on the family estate, but never thought she would enter the wine world herself - that is until she went away to study, and felt the pull of the vineyard. Aged just 26, she took over the Elena Walch company together with her younger sister. Each year they make about 550,000 bottles of wine. Julia says her mother is still on hand for advice, though she's grateful that she's been given free reign to pursue her own ideas.Image: (L) Susana Balbo (no credit) and (R) Julia Walch (credit: Florian Jaenicke)

Female stars of YouTube in India and the US swap tips for success with Kim Chakanetsa.Shruti Arjun Anand was a 'computer geek' who developed a passion for make-up and beauty, and decided to vlog about it for an Indian audience. She is now a top online video star in her country, and one of her most popular videos is how to make a pimple disappear overnight. Shruti's personal life features too - she kept a pregnancy vlog and also discusses topics like how to deal with the pressure on Indian women to have a baby in the first place.Evelyn Ngugi is Kenyan-American and vlogs from Texas under the alias 'Evelyn from the Internets'. She started out talking about natural hair and has expanded into funny monologues and interviews about race, gender and culture. 2016 was a very special year because when she posted an enthusiastic review of the album Lemonade, Beyonce spotted it and Evelyn found herself projected onto a big screen during the singer's worldwide tour.Image and credit: (L) Shruti Arjun Ananda. Image and credit:(R) Evelyn Ngugi.

What does it take to run a glossy magazine? Two editors speak to Kim Chakanetsa about celebrities, gossip and the power of true life stories.Betty Irabor launched her magazine, Genevieve, in Lagos 13 years ago, with the aim of inspiring other women to believe in themselves. Her publication is described as Nigeria's leading inspirational and lifestyle magazine. She's even got her daughter involved, first as a teen columnist, now as Assistant Editor. She says that in recent years the website has become more important than the printed edition. But it's still the Lagos elite that set the trends in her fashion pages.Mamen Sanchez Perez is editor of Hola Mexico and deputy editor of Hola Spain, both part of the Hello Magazine family. She shares her memories of her grandparents, who first launched Hola Magazine in Barcelona in the 1940s, with the aim of bringing more respect and integrity to the gossip pages. That family ethos carries through to the present day - and Mamen's grandmother still plays an active role in the business.Image: (L) Betty Irabor and (R) Mamen Sanchez Perez Credit: (L) Genevieve Magazine and (R) no credit

Two women who've escaped forced marriage and now fight for the rights of other victims talk to Maryam Maruf about how they've coped after being ostracised by their families.Most people look forward to their wedding day: not Jasvinder Sanghera. She grew up in a large Sikh family in Derby, UK and was set to marry a much older man. Instead, aged just 16, she ran away from her home. Her family disowned her - and refused her attempts at reconciliation. As a response, Jasvinder went on to found Karma Nirvana, a charity which supports victims of forced marriage and honour-based violence.Fraidy Reiss didn't even have her own bank account when she left an abusive marriage at the age of 32. She'd been brought up in an insular Orthodox Jewish community in New York, and did not feel she had any real choice in who she married. When she left her husband she had to turn her back on her whole life. She set up a new home with her daughters, and decided to help other women from all different religious and cultural backgrounds to escape forced marriage. Her organisation is called Unchained at Last.(L) Image: Fraidy Reiss. Credit: Julie N Samuels. (R) Image: Jasvinder Sanghera. Credit: Karma Nirvana.

Women who have opened up new horizons for tourists, in the sunny western cape of South Africa and the high mountain trails of Nepal. Laura Ndukwana runs popular tours of two townships in Cape Town. She grew up and still lives in Gugulethu township, and believes that tourists should see both sides of this beautiful city, which contains very rich and very poor areas. Her tours involve walking and meeting local people, cooking for school children and attending a traditional gospel service on a Sunday. Laura says she guards against so-called 'poverty tourism' by keeping the groups small, and briefing them carefully to ensure there is respect for local residents. She also says there is a black middle-class in the townships that tourists are often surprised to see.Lucky Chhetri and her two sisters started the first women-only trekking guide business in Pokhara, Nepal. Initially they ran all the treks themselves but have now gone on to train over 1,000 local women to be guides. They have faced many challenges as outdoor work is not traditionally seen as suitable for women - and male competitors would have gladly seen them go out of business. However they have gone from strength to strength and Lucky still enjoys leading treks herself. She says a good guide understands their client and how to make a trip fun and memorable for them. Kim Chakanetsa asks Lucky and Laura how they started out, what they have learned and what they enjoy most about their work.(Photo: Tour guides Lucky Chhetri (L) and Laura Ndukwana (R) courtesy of Lucky and Laura)

Two women fighting to educate girls in Afghanistan and Kenya talk to Emily Webb about the ingenious ideas they've come up with to deal with opposition from men in the community.Imagine searching classrooms for bombs before the start of every school day: that's the reality for Razia Jan who decided to open a school for girls in a village in rural Afghanistan. Razia had lived a comfortable life in the US for over 30 years, but after the fall of the Taliban, she decided to return to her home country, and was shocked by what she saw. Despite strong local opposition, she is now educating hundreds of girls who were previously denied any schooling.Kakenya Ntaiya dreamt of becoming a teacher, but she had to make an unimaginable deal with her father to stay in education. She went onto gain a PhD in education, and having graduated, she returned to her own Maasai village in Kenya to set up a primary boarding school for girls. She hopes that her students will be the leaders and decision-makers of the future.(L) Image: Kakenya Ntaiya. Credit; Kakenya's Center for Excellence. (R) Image: Razia Jan. Credit: Razia's Ray of Hope.

Two world-renowned pianists from Venezuela and Georgia talk to Kim Chakanetsa about their personal and musical journeys.Gabriela Montero grew up in Venezuela and could pick out a tune on a toy piano before she could speak. She made her concert debut aged eight and has gone on to become an award-winning and best-selling performer, who played at the inauguration of President Obama in 2009. Gabriela now lives in Spain but in recent years has begun to compose her own music, and is using her artistic voice to highlight the terrible problems facing her native Venezuela.Georgian pianist Khatia Buniatishvili began her musical studies at the age of three. Hailed as a child prodigy she began touring internationally aged 10, and hasn't stopped since. However she says she was never pressured to have a career in music - it's simply what she loves to do. As well as gaining a reputation for a dramatic playing style, Khatia's revealing outfits have also attracted attention. She says she will continue to wear what she wants on stage, and that these comments are attempts to belittle her intellect and musical talent by focusing on her image.(Photo: (L) Khatia Buniatishvili. Credit Gavin Evans, and (R) Gabriela Montero. Credit Shelley Mosman)

Steering a small boat across oceans by yourself - why do it? Kim Chakanetsa meets two women who have been alone at sea for months - and they chat about encountering sharks, avoiding pirates and having to call their mums. Roz Savage is the first woman to have rowed solo across three oceans - the Atlantic, Pacific and Indian. She had no background as an adventurer and in fact was a UK management consultant for years, but in her 30s she decided to do something completely different with her life. Roz says rowing the Atlantic was a huge struggle physically and mentally, but afterwards she wanted to put herself in even more challenging situations to see if she could do it, and to raise awareness about sustainability. Australian Jessica Watson sailed around the world when she was just 16, battling storms and isolation, but also fierce criticism from those who thought she was too young. On her return after 210 days she was greeted by the Prime Minister and tens of thousands of people, and was later named Young Australian of the Year. Jessica says she did it partly to prove that young people, and young girls, can be serious and achieve incredible things, and they should not be dismissed.(Photo: (L) Roz Savage sat in her row boat. Credit: Phil Uhl and (R) Jessica Watson stood on her yacht. Credit: Sam Rosewarne)

Treading the boards with two musical theatre directors from Nigeria and Pakistan. Kim Chakanetsa discusses the hunt for local talent, the emotional journey of opening night and running a tight ship in rehearsals.Nigerian theatre director and producer Bolanle Austen Peters has re-ignited Nigeria's passion for their culture through her highly successful musicals focused on local stories using local stars. She says "The talent is latent, people have it but they just need the right platform to bring it out and the individual who's going to push them". And Bolanle has done just that through her production company Terra Kulture. Nida Butt is a theatre director, producer and choreographer from Pakistan and is responsible for revolutionising the Pakistani musical theatre scene by introducing live music and orchestras to the stage. She is the owner of Made for Stage theatre productions which has put on performances from Grease! to Nida's own original production of Karachi the Musical. Nida says "We were teaching ourselves, learning ourselves, and doing it ourselves".Image: (L) Nida Butt and (R) Bolanle Austen Peters, Credit: Nida Butt (n/a) and Bolanle Austen Peters (Reze Bonna)

Sorting out the messy business of divorce, in France and India.Veronique Chauveau is a divorce lawyer based in Paris, where she's been practising for more than 30 years. The bulk of her work is with the rich and famous, but she also finds time for a 'reality check' through taking on international child abduction cases. And she is an undisputed expert in jam making!Vandana Shah is a divorce lawyer in Mumbai. She learnt about divorce the hard way, when she was thrown out of the family home, and spent the next 10 years battling to get a divorce. During that time she got herself a law degree, and she is now one of the foremost lawyers at the family court in Mumbai. She regularly writes for The Huffington Post, and her memoirs are called The Ex-Files. She also started 360 Degrees Back to Life, India's first support group for people going through a divorce.(L-Image & credit: Vandana Shah. R-Image & credit: Veronique Chauveau.)

Space Scientists from the UAE and the UK discuss the missions they're involved in and what they mean to them.Sarah Amiri is the lead scientist for the UAE's Mars Mission. Their plan is to send an unmanned spacecraft, the 'Hope', to reach Mars in 2021, where it will provide unprecedented data on the Martian climate, and also send a message to the youth of the region that there are paths available to them in science, rather than radicalism. Sarah says the people working on the Hope mission are all under 35, and 34% of them are women.Monica Grady is a prominent British space scientist, known for her work on Beagle 2 and the international Rosetta mission, which aimed to find out where life on Earth came from. In 2014, when the robot probe Philae successfully landed on a comet, a video of Monica's hugely excited reaction went viral on the internet. She says it's no wonder she was so happy - this mission had been part of her life for 30 years.Image: (LHS) Sarah Amiri and (RHS) Monica Grady Credit: n/a

Feminism is not known for being funny but we're hoping to change that on The Conversation this week as two feminist stand up comedians go head to head to explore the funny in feminism. They are Aditi Mittal, one of India's top stand-up comedians today and Zahra Noorbakhsh, one half of the internationally acclaimed podcast #GoodMuslimBadMuslim. Also starring a live studio audience of young and alarmingly intelligent people. This programme was part of the BBC's 100 Women Season.(L) Image: Zahra Noorbakhsh, Credit: Harsh Mall. (R) Image and credit: Aditi Mittal.

Two women who get inside Presidents' heads, tell Kim Chakanetsa how they turn their bosses' thoughts and ideas into powerful oratory.Sarada Peri is Special Assistant and Senior Speechwriter to President Obama. She says a good speech writer is like a ghost, and that her job is really to inhabit the President's mind on any given topic. For her, the goal isn't to emulate what he sounds like, it's to understand how he thinks. This is then represented on the page or teleprompter; with Sarada ever conscious that a single line from any one of his speeches could be lifted out of context and tweeted around the world in seconds.When the first female President of the Republic of Kosovo came into office in 2011, it was Garentina Kraja who she turned to for her speech writing prowess, as well as her policy expertise. Together Garentina and President Jahjaga wrote a speech about the women who were raped in Kosovo during the war, and who felt they'd been ignored and forgotten since. It helped to change the whole national conversation on the subject. Garentina passionately believes in the power of words and story-telling to persuade hearts and minds.Image: (LHS) Sarada Peri speechwriter to President Obama and (RHS) Garentina Kraja speechwriter to the former President of the Republic of Kosovo Credit: N/A

In 2002, the French Colombian politician Ingrid Betancourt became perhaps one of the best-known hostages in the world when she was kidnapped and held for over six years, deep in the Colombian jungle, by the Farc or Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia. Watching Ingrid's emotional release on TV in 2008, was a young Canadian journalist called Amanda Lindhout. A month later she herself was taken hostage at gun-point, on a work trip to Somalia. For the 460 days of Amanda's captivity, she thought about Ingrid nearly every day, inspired by the thought that she too could one day end her ordeal. This is the first time they have spoken to each other.(Photo: Amanda Lindhout (L). Credit: Steve Carty. (R) Ingrid Betancourt. Credit: Barker Evans)

Azeri journalist Khadija Ismayilova became the subject of an international release campaign last year when she was arrested and detained by her government, and her cause was taken up by human rights lawyer Amal Clooney. Khadija had been delving into the President's family businesses, and published allegations of extensive embezzlement of oil funds. She spent 18 months in prison before being given early release in May 2016, but says she is determined to continue her investigations.Sacha Pfeiffer is an American newspaper journalist and was a member of the now world-renowned 'Spotlight' team on the Boston Globe. She and her colleagues spent years building up evidence and personal testimony of sexual abuse at the hands of Catholic priests, and the systematic cover-up of this by the Church. The resulting story caused shock-waves when it was published and the investigation was dramatised in the film Spotlight, which won the Best Film Oscar in 2016. Sacha was played by Rachel McAdams.(L) Photo: Khadija Ismayilova. Credit: Aziz Karimov. (R) Photo and credit: Sacha Pfeiffer.

Get your dancing shoes on because this week Kim Chakanetsa brings together two supremely talented ballroom dancers who between them have a pile of trophies. We talk about the glamour, romance, athleticism and also the rivalries, injuries and tears that go on behind the scenes.South African dancer Oti Mabuse has been Latin American dance champion in South Africa eight times and she is currently gracing UK screens as a professional dancer on the popular reality TV show Strictly Come Dancing. When she started ballroom dancing was a very divided activity, "We were the only black family doing Latin and ballroom, I was young, I was four and cute, but for my sisters it was extremely difficult." More recently, things have changed, she says "It's not about where you come from or what you look like, it's about what you do and what you deliver."Alex Hixson is from the UK and has been a World Champion bronze medallist and an International Professional Rising Star Champion. Her favourite dance is the foxtrot. Alex started dancing aged 6, "before 'Strictly', so before ballroom dancing was cool. I saw a poster and told my mum that I want to do ballroom and Latin dancing and she said why? That's what old people do."Image: Alex Hixson (Credit: John Sinclair) and Oti Mabuse (Credit: BBC)

Can you beat the so-called 'curse' of the child performer? Maryam Maruf brings together two women who grew up on camera - the American star of the films Matilda and Mrs Doubtfire, and a South African youth TV presenter.At six years old Mara Wilson was playing Robin Williams's daughter in Mrs Doubtfire, then she bagged the leading role in the film version of Roald Dahl's Matilda. For a few years she was the cutest little girl in Hollywood. Then as she hit puberty and did not become classically 'pretty', she discovered that the parts simply dried up. Mara chose not to re-enter the limelight as an adult, and is a writer and storyteller in New York. She's written a memoir called 'Where Am I Now?'Mandisa Nakana Taylor shot to fame in South Africa aged 10, as one of a multi-racial cast of young presenters on the kids' show YOTV. For six years children raced home after school and watched her grow up on their televisions. Mandisa says it was great fun, and there were a lot of first kisses on set, but they were also expected to maintain an adult work ethic. Now a mother and student in the UK, she still appears on screen, this time on her own YouTube channel. (Photo: (L) Mandisa Nakana Taylor. Credit: Vanity Studios. (R) Mara Wilson. Credit: Ari Scott)

How do you feel about graffiti and street art? Is it a democratic form of creative expression, or an eyesore, a public nuisance, that gets your blood boiling? These are questions that Kim Chakanetsa puts to her two guests today.Olga Alexopoulou lives in Turkey but is originally from Greece. She has a master's degree in Fine Art from Oxford University but she likes to paint on walls, big walls. She is responsible for the biggest mural in Greece, all 350 square metres of it. Street art has been very visible during the recent crises in both Turkey and Greece and while Olga's work promotes peace she has also had to face down her critics. Lady Pink has been described as "the first lady of graffiti". She was born in Ecuador but made a name for herself across New York by literally spray painting her name on the city's subway trains. She was one of very few women on the scene in the late '70s. She used to dress as a boy to avoid unwanted attention. Three decades on, she is now one of the leading figures in the street art scene.(Photo: Olga Alexopoulou (L). Credit: Yannis Bournias. (R) Lady Pink. Credit: Lauren Thomas)

When you are involved in the race to shed light on some of our biggest scientific questions, does your gender matter? Kim Chakanetsa brings together two successful female life scientists at the new world-leading Crick Institute in London. They are both leading ground-breaking research in their respective fields, and are joined by young women from Camden School for Girls who are considering a career in science. Dr Vivian Li grew up in Hong Kong and completed her PhD there, and says it was only when she went on to conduct research in Europe that she noticed any gender divide in science. She found that male colleagues did not take her expertise seriously as a young woman, and so she had to work twice as hard to prove herself. Vivian now leads a molecular biotechnology research team, and is pioneering a technique to create human intestines in the lab, to then transplant back into patients. She says she used to work seven days a week, but since having a family she has learnt to prioritise her work differently and get her weekends back.British virologist Dr Kate Bishop's research focuses on HIV and other retro-viruses, and she hopes her work could contribute to stopping HIV in its tracks at an earlier stage. Kate was the first in her family to go to university, and says she was always encouraged by her parents, who never put boundaries on her ambition. Leading a research group means she is less likely to be sitting at the bench conducting an experiment herself, but she now gets the satisfaction of passing her knowledge on to the next generation of scientists.(Photo: The Conversation team and guests at The Crick Institute, London)

Kim Chakanetsa is in candid and intimate conversation with two women who have made the life altering decision to enter a religious order. Mother Hildegarde is a nun in a silent, cloistered Catholic convent that overlooks London's Hyde Park. Originally from Australia, she entered religious life at 35, giving up her family, friends and name. She says she wanted to wear a habit, but found obeying the monastic 'rule' very hard to begin with, and as a self-confessed chatterbox she also really struggled with not talking! Fifteen years on she is comfortable leading a life spent in prayer and contemplation, and says although this life involves sacrifice, it is worth it.Sister Tracy Kemme is 30 and took 'first vows' with the Sisters of Charity of Cincinnati in the US last year. Tracy made the heart-wrenching decision to break up with the love of her life to pursue her vocation, because even though he was everything she wanted, she realised that still was not enough for her. She says that society portrays religious life as giving up a lot of things. "I think people have unease with the fact that we don't have sex. We take a vow of celibacy, we take a vow of poverty and a vow of obedience and that's pretty counter cultural. But who would do that if that's what it's really all about?".(Photo: Mother Hildegarde (L) and (R) Sister Tracy Kemme)

Siphokazi Mdlankomo comes from South Africa and Marissa Begonia from the Philippines but they have plenty in common. They have both dedicated a great deal of their lives to taking care of other people's households and children. They are Kim Chakanetsa's guests on this programme and they are discussing life as a domestic worker.Marissa Begonia left her three young children to work overseas. It was a tough decision for her but she couldn't bear to see them going hungry at home in the Philippines. She found work initially in Hong Kong and then Singapore and finally London. Her choice has worked out for her, after years of providing for her children back home, she was finally able to bring them to join her in London. But the separation has taken its toll on all of them, and so has the work. Melissa has seen and heard of so much mistreatment among domestic workers that she decided to set up an organisation to protect the rights and welfare of others in her profession. The organisation is called Justice for Domestic Workers.Until very recently Siphokazi Mdlankomo was working for a family in Johannesburg, South Africa but she's had to leave her job to focus full time on her new role on television and writing cookery books. She came to fame when she was runner-up in the South African reality TV show Master Chef. Her cooking has come a long way since she started her working life. She looks back fondly at the young Siphokazi, just starting out in her career, back then, she didn't know what garlic was, or fresh herbs or how to make a piece of toast.Siphokazi and Marissa share their intimate, moving and sometimes funny stories of running someone else's household.(Photo: Marissa Begonia (L) and (R) Siphokazi Mdlankomo)

Growing up in Santiago Melissa Aldana learnt to play the tenor saxophone or 'horn' at her father's knee, though he took some convincing that she would stick with it. She did, and went on to become the first ever female instrumentalist to win the prestigious Thelonious Monk Jazz Award in 2013. Melissa is now the leader of a successful jazz trio based in New York, and loves her work, but is concerned that a musician's life on the road will be hard to square with starting a family when the time comes.South African musician Nomfundo Xaluva is winning awards for putting a new twist on her country's very strong jazz tradition. As well as singing and composing, Nomfundo says she is one of very few female black pianists in South Africa, and so feels responsible for being a role model to young girls. Being Xhosa, from the Eastern Cape, music forms a huge part of her culture, and she tries to incorporate this into her work, often singing in her mother tongue. Nomfundo reckons jazz is slowly becoming hip again, and she is excited to be a part of that.L-Photo: Melissa Aldana. R-Photo: Nomfundo Xaluva.

Kim Chakanetsa meets two women who are taking on the challenge of combating bullying in Pakistan and the US. Zainab Chughtai says the bullying she endured as a young girl inspired her to go into schools to try and stop other school children experiencing what she did. The emotional impact was so severe on Zainab, she says it's affected her personal relationships as an adult. Her campaign, Bully Proof, travels across Pakistan providing workshops to school children which create a safe space for them to open up about bullying - whether they are the victim, or the perpetrator.Lauren Paul was the target of bullying by a group of girls at school in California. It was so traumatic it led to depression, an eating disorder and even an attempt to take her own life. She says every single woman can recall a moment when their relationship with other girls had a negative effect on them. This is why she co-founded 'Kind Campaign', an organisation which goes into schools across the US working with girls of all ages in the hopes of spreading a positive message, and stamping out girl-against-girl bullying.(Photo: Left to right, Zainab Chughtai. Credit: Hamza Bajwa. Lauren Paul. Credit: Brandon Kidd)

Sapna Bhavnani is one of India's most celebrated hair stylists and is known for her own cropped hair and tattoos. Her Mumbai based salon, Mad-O-Wat, is the go-to place for Bollywood's A-list when their hair needs some attention. Clients include actors, politicians and sports stars like Indian cricket captain Mahendra Singh Dhoni. Sapna says her hair appointments can often turn into therapy sessions as her clients want to get their problems off their chest when they're sitting in her chair. Charlotte Mensah developed a passion for hair styling while she looked after her little sister's hair after their mother died. Charlotte, who has twice been named British Afro Hairdresser of the Year, (by the British Hairdressing Awards) grew up in Ghana and moved to London when she was 11 years old. She goes back and forth to Accra and says it gives her a lot of inspiration for the styles she creates in the Hair Lounge, her Portobello Road salon, which specialises in afro hair. Charlotte promotes natural hair and says women are embracing this look.Photo: (L)-Sapna Bhavnani. Credit: Sheetal Sherekar. (R) Charlotte Mensah. Credit: John Rawson.

Two women whose aim is to make sex work safer in Uganda and New Zealand join Kim Chakanetsa to exchange experiences.Daisy Nakato is the founder of WONETHA, a sex workers' rights and support organisation in Kampala, Uganda. She says she chose to go into sex work at 17, but did face many challenges including violence from clients and running from the police. She is now building a better relationship with the police, which she hopes will lead to a reduction in violence against sex workers, but for her decriminalisation is the ultimate goal. Daisy is also HIV positive, and her project encourages sex workers to get tested and then supports them in controlling the spread of the disease. New Zealander Catherine Healy went from teaching in a school to sex work in a massage parlour in her thirties. She says this was an empowering choice for her, but she was appalled at the lack of any protections for her profession, which was then illegal. So she formed the New Zealand Prostitutes Collective and led a long campaign to decriminalise all forms of sex work. This law was passed in 2003 and gives full employment rights to sex workers, and Catherine says the police are now partners in keeping sex workers safe.