Domestic violence screening tool should be replaced, Jess Phillips says

The main screening tool used to determine which domestic violence victims need support has “obvious problems” and should be replaced, the UK safeguarding minister, Jess Phillips, has said.Phillips is reviewing systems, including the Dash (domestic abuse, stalking, harassment and “honour-based” violence) questionnaire, largely relied on by police, social services and healthcare workers across the UK since 2009 to assess risk.Academics and others working in the sector have raised concerns about the 27-question tool, which assesses answers to decide which respondents are deemed high risk so they can be referred to specialist care.Phillips told the BBC’s File on 4 that she was reviewing the entire system supporting victims but said it would not change overnight.“My instinct is that the tool doesn’t work, but until I can replace it with something that does, we have to make the very best of the system that we have,” Phillips said

Ovarian cancer blood test can detect disease early, study suggests

Scientists have developed a simple blood test to spot ovarian cancer early that could “significantly improve” outcomes for women with the disease.More than 300,000 women, mostly over the age of 50, are diagnosed worldwide each year, according to the World Cancer Research Fund. Ovarian cancer is often diagnosed late, which makes treating the condition more difficult.The test trialled by UK and US researchers looks for two different types of blood markers in those showing symptoms of the disease, which include pelvic pain and a bloated tummy. It then uses machine learning to recognise patterns that would be difficult for humans to detect

UK to clarify definition of ‘honour’-based abuse in drive to cut violence against women and girls

Ministers are introducing a clearer legal definition of “honour”-based abuse in an attempt to catch more perpetrators and protect women and girls from violence and coercion.The law change is intended to improve how public services respond to “honour”-based abuse in England and Wales, and forms part of Labour’s plan for change, which includes a pledge to halve violence against women and girls.Teachers, police officers, social workers and healthcare workers will receive training to spot the signs of “honour”-based abuse and better support victims, while an awareness-raising campaign will encourage victims to come forward.Yvette Cooper, the home secretary, said: “All forms of ‘honour’-based abuse are devastating crimes that can shatter lives. There is no ‘honour’ in them

UK mothers earn £302 a week less than fathers, analysis shows

Women with children earn £302 less every week than men with children: one-third less per week and almost 20% less per hour, according to analysis based on ONS data.This means that Mums’ Equal Pay Day falls on 1 September this year, almost three months earlier than Equal Pay Day for all women. From this date, mothers are working for free for the rest of the year compared with fathers.“The reason the gender pay gap worsens so significantly after having children is because starting a family has a disproportionately negative impact on women’s earnings,” said Joeli Brearley, the founder of Growth Spurt, an online back-to-work scheme for parents.The analysis has been acknowledged as accurate by the Office for National Statistics

Maroushka Monro obituary

My friend Maroushka Monro, who has died aged 78, was a writer, poet, counsellor and at one time an agony aunt.In the booming magazine world of the 1980s, her writing talent earned her a job assisting Katie Boyle, the agony aunt at TV Times. Then she was headhunted by the teen magazine Just Seventeen, where for three years, from 1988 until 1991, she put heart and soul into her role as their agony aunt. She would typically receive up to 800 letters a week, and would frequently respond directly and personally to her readers.Maroushka was forced to relinquish her job because of illness, in the form of the highly debilitating condition spasmodic torticollis, which caused her head to turn rigidly to one side

Eric Midwinter obituary

In 1982 Eric Midwinter, who has died aged 93, co-founded the University of the Third Age (now u3a), with the social entrepreneur Michael Young and the historian Peter Laslett. Self-funding, it brings together those who are no longer working full-time or raising a family (there is no lower age limit) to continue the enjoyment of learning in a wide range of topics, chosen by members. This has the consequent benefit of challenging negative stereotypes of older people.Everyone works collaboratively to teach and learn from each other. The UK now has more than 1,000 u3a branches, each a self-governing charity affiliated to the Third Age Trust, with a total of 400,000 members