‘I just want to feel like me again’: the women still waiting for breast reconstruction years after lockdown

At the height of Covid, hundreds of cancer patients had mastectomies without the reconstruction that would normally accompany them. They would eventually get the surgery, they were told – but for many that promise feels more meaningless by the dayEvery time she lifts her arms to get dressed or hang out her washing, Julie Ford gets a painful reminder of one of the most terrifying experiences of her life. At 7am one day in April 2021, she had gone into hospital, alone and wearing a mask, to have her right breast and lymph nodes removed in a bid to stop breast cancer from spreading. Later that day, still groggy from the anaesthetic, in pain and with surgical drains hanging from both sides of her chest, she had staggered to the door with the help of two nurses. She was eased into a friend’s car and driven home to fend for herself

Iran war could plunge 32 million into poverty, says United Nations

More than 32 million people worldwide could be plunged into poverty by the economic fallout from the Iran war, with developing countries expected to be hit hardest.In a report issued amid doubts over a fragile ceasefire, the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) said the world was facing a “triple shock” involving energy, food and weaker economic growth.The agency tasked with tackling poverty said the conflict was reversing gains in international development, with the impact expected be felt unevenly across regions.Alexander De Croo, administrator of the UNDP and former prime minister of Belgium, said: “A conflict like this is development in reverse. Even if the war stops, and a ceasefire is obviously very very welcome

Thousands of unpaid carers to face DWP repayment demands during overhaul

Thousands of unpaid carers will continue to be hit with hefty and potentially unfair benefit repayment demands, it has emerged, as a government initiative gets under way to fix welfare injustices that have drawn comparison to the Post Office scandal.Ministers will on Monday launch an audit of more than 200,000 historical carer’s allowance benefit cases, with an estimated 25,000 carers issued with unlawful overpayments since 2015 likely to see their repayment debts cancelled or reduced as a result.The so-called reassessment exercise marks a big step in the government’s attempt to “put right” systemic injustices that led to hundreds of thousands of vulnerable carers having debts of up to £20,000 through no fault of their own.However, the government has admitted its existing “business as usual” overpayment recovery policies will be maintained while a full overhaul of the benefit is completed, in effect ensuring that carer’s allowance penalties will continue to be imposed.Furthermore, it is still unclear how ministers will compensate thousands more carers who were unlawfully issued with overpayment demands because of longstanding system faults linking universal credit and carer’s allowance, or who were wrongly told to repay money after officials lost evidence that they had reported changes in earnings

Online abuse is a daily reality for women in public life | Letters

Reading Stella Creasy’s piece about the online abuse she received after sharing an image of herself enjoying a silent disco in her constituency filled me with a mix of anger and weary understanding (When I get abused just for dancing, it shows how far hatred of politicians has gone, 7 April).My own research in this area, which now spans almost a decade, has consistently shown that women working across the public sphere are targeted with misogynistic online abuse, and that what happens in digital spaces echoes other forms of gender‑based violence.My work also demonstrates that the online abuse directed at women in high‑profile, public‑facing occupations typically comprises seven elements: defamation, emotional harm, harassment, threat, belittlement, silencing and criticism of appearance. At least one of these elements appears in every abusive encounter.The detail of the abuse Creasy shared reinforces this pattern

French children’s menus were a surprising disappointment – with one exception | Letter

Ellie Violet Bramley’s efforts to find the perfect kids menu resonated deeply with me as a mum just back from a trip to France, where every child’s option was nuggets, burger or fish with chips (‘Before I can stop her, my daughter is licking crumbs from the table’: my search for the perfect kids’ menu, 7 April).Perhaps naively, I’d imagined a better offering from our French counterparts, but staying in a popular ski resort at Easter, I concluded that maybe they knew who they were catering for.However, I did get a very pleasant surprise at the end of the trip when travelling home with Brittany Ferries, who not only have a child’s menu, but also say explicitly that all of their main dishes can be made in smaller portions for children. Child one opted for pork in a cider sauce, while child two plumped for bavette steak, and both plates were cleared!Of all the places I might have expected to find a shining beacon of paediatric gastronomy, a cross-channel ferry wasn’t among them. I’m hoping it is the start of a sea change for children’s dining

Peers vote to ban pornography depicting sex acts between stepfamily members

The government has agreed to ban the production of pornography depicting sex acts between stepfamily members following a vote in the House of Lords.The government tabled an amendment calling for step-incest to be included in a ban on harmful content, with the support of the Conservative peer Gabby Bertin, who led a review into pornography regulation that was published last year.The ban is one of several that have been proposed by the government, including last year’s criminalisation of material depicting women being choked.Some ministers had opposed the amendment and suggested the new ban would have been difficult to implement because, under the law in England and Wales, it is not illegal for adults who are step-related to engage in a sexual relationship.Speaking after the ban was agreed on Friday, Lady Bertin said: “I greatly welcome the government’s plans to fully address harmful pornographic content, such as incest, step-incest and the mimicking of child sexual abuse