52 min
Force for Change with Siobhan Baillie MP Positive Solace with Attika Choudhary
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- Mental Health
In this week’s episode of Positive Solace: Women of Vision, Attika interviews Siobhan Baillie, the first ever woman MP for Stroud.Becoming an MP for the first time already has its challenges, but for Siobhan, the challenges were complicated by the fact that she was pregnant at the time of the election. Three months later, the Coronavirus pandemic forced people into lockdown and MPs had to do business from home. But Siobhan is no novice as far as the Internet is concerned.Leaving home at the age of 15 and underperforming at her GCSEs, she often sofa-surfed at the houses of her friends before getting work as a secretary in a law firm. Then, luckily, they sponsored her to study for her solicitor's exams. As a solicitor, Siobhan was moved by families who struggled to pay for the services of people like herself, and she saw a lot to be desired in the divorce laws so she entered politics. First she won a seat as a borough councilor, and then as an MP in Westminster.She is now working to change the laws regarding separating families and has been successful in creating a no-fault divorce. Alongside her work as an MP, Siobhan is one of those courageous enough to tackle online abuse and trolling, especially on behalf of susceptible young people. This includes working with the Stop The Hate Campaign and Clean up the Internet, two organisations challenging all forms of hate crime and discrimination.Attika and Siobhan speak about the need for more female representation in UK politics, and the challenges that women politicians face every day. They discuss what can be done to combat abuse of women on social media, and how to help younger adults who are considering going into politics.With thanks to the Positive Solace Team. Don’t forget to subscribe to never miss an episode.Be sure to check out our social media pages:Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/PositiveSolace/Twitter: https://twitter.com/PositiveSolaceInstagram: https://www.instagram.com/positivesolace/TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@positivesolaceYouTube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UClhK6amRXNbMKZsEacDgyjw Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
In this week’s episode of Positive Solace: Women of Vision, Attika interviews Siobhan Baillie, the first ever woman MP for Stroud.Becoming an MP for the first time already has its challenges, but for Siobhan, the challenges were complicated by the fact that she was pregnant at the time of the election. Three months later, the Coronavirus pandemic forced people into lockdown and MPs had to do business from home. But Siobhan is no novice as far as the Internet is concerned.Leaving home at the age of 15 and underperforming at her GCSEs, she often sofa-surfed at the houses of her friends before getting work as a secretary in a law firm. Then, luckily, they sponsored her to study for her solicitor's exams. As a solicitor, Siobhan was moved by families who struggled to pay for the services of people like herself, and she saw a lot to be desired in the divorce laws so she entered politics. First she won a seat as a borough councilor, and then as an MP in Westminster.She is now working to change the laws regarding separating families and has been successful in creating a no-fault divorce. Alongside her work as an MP, Siobhan is one of those courageous enough to tackle online abuse and trolling, especially on behalf of susceptible young people. This includes working with the Stop The Hate Campaign and Clean up the Internet, two organisations challenging all forms of hate crime and discrimination.Attika and Siobhan speak about the need for more female representation in UK politics, and the challenges that women politicians face every day. They discuss what can be done to combat abuse of women on social media, and how to help younger adults who are considering going into politics.With thanks to the Positive Solace Team. Don’t forget to subscribe to never miss an episode.Be sure to check out our social media pages:Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/PositiveSolace/Twitter: https://twitter.com/PositiveSolaceInstagram: https://www.instagram.com/positivesolace/TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@positivesolaceYouTube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UClhK6amRXNbMKZsEacDgyjw Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
52 min