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In 1969, migration to the UK was increasing with Britain becoming home for thousands of foreign settlers. In Coventry, 21 women of Indian origin booked what were supposed to be routine appointments with their local GP. Little did they know that these appointments would result in them becoming subjects of a controversial medical experiment, in which they were given chapatis laced with radioactive components. Over the next 50 years, memories of the experiment have continued to resurface as campaigners, such as Labour MP Taiwo Owatemi, try to track down participants and their families whilst calling on Parliament to open an inquiry into the findings.

Nicky Perfect knows what it\u2019s like to live much of her life on high alert. From joining the police at the age of 18, working in the Met Police Firearms unit to eventually joining the elite New Scotland Yard Hostage and Crisis Negotiation Unit. She\u2019s brought people safely down from rooftop stand-offs, worked to resolve gang kidnappings and terrorist incidents. Now she\u2019s written about her experiences in Crisis: True stories of my life as a hostage negotiator.

Listener Carla Mercer contacted Woman\u2019s Hour asking for a discussion on parenting from the perspective of a non-birth mother in a single-sex relationship. She is the non-birth mother to her seven-year-old daughter and five-year-old twin boys. She is separated from her ex-partner who is the children\u2019s birth mother. Author and journalist, Lotte Jeffs is the \u201cother mother\u201d to a four-year-old girl with her wife, who gave birth to their daughter. She is co-author of The Queer Parent: Everything You Need to Know From Gay to Ze.

Political parties in Japan are boosting their support to get more women into office. The country\u2019s ruling party and opposition party are both offering financial incentives- pledging a million Japanese Yen, about \xa35400, in aid for each new female candidate. And many would say the country sorely needs more women in politics- with the World Economic Forum showing only 10% of the country\u2019s parliamentary positions are held by women. Rei Murakami is the President of the Murakami Foundation, and has set up a politics training school with this goal in mind. Hanako Montgomery is a Tokyo-based journalist.

Presenter: Nuala McGovern\nProducer: Kirsty Starkey

Opener 00:00\nRadioactive Chapatis 02:12\nNicky Perfect 12:16 \nWomen on Wheels 30:20 \nNon-Birth Mothers 35:44\nJapanese Women in Politics 46:45