Digital sisterhood; Christina Lamb; Learning to swim

Published: March 10, 2020, 1:32 p.m.

Friendship can be one of the most powerful and important aspects of any woman’s life. We explore what sisterhood means to different women at different points in their lives. Kelechi Okafor, Danielle Dash and Seyi Akiwowo all met online. They all have large social media followings and talk about the importance of digital sisterhood. Foreign correspondent Christina Lamb has reported on wars for over thirty years. She has now written a major book, Our Bodies Their Battlefield, exposing how in modern warfare, rape and sexual violence are used to humiliate, terrify and carry out ethnic cleansing. Last week saw the launch of the Black Swimming Association, which aims to turn around the fact that 95% of black adults and 80% of black children in England do not swim. It’s a trend echoed more widely in the UK – with Swim England reporting that almost a quarter of all children leave primary school without being about to swim 25 metres. So what are the barriers to learning to swim? And how can they be overcome? Jane speaks to Carina White from Dope Black Mums and Ali Beckman, the technical director and lead teacher of the swim school, Puddleducks.