The media’s reporting of violence against women and girls (VAWG) can play a vital role in ending this violence. It can increase our understanding of VAWG and gender inequality and challenge their place in our society.
That’s why we’re recognising and rewarding journalists, writers and content creators who report on VAWG responsibly and accurately. The awards are open to all journalists, writers and content creators across the UK!
EVAW has long worked with the media to shape and improve reporting on violence against women and girls, which we know is a key part of shifting harmful attitudes and beliefs and preventing violence and abuse.
Endorsed by the National Union of Journalists (NUJ), our awards pave the way for a change in how violence against women and girls is reported on and in turn, positive change in how we collectively think about this abuse.
Download our entry guidance here
How we choose award winners
We run an open call for submissions throughout summer where you may submit your own or someone else’s piece. There are categories for unpaid as well as paid writing.
The pieces are shortlisted by our steering group of activists and representatives from women’s organisations. Shortlisted articles are judged by a panel of industry experts and the winners are awarded at an online ceremony during the 16 Days of Activism against Gender-Based Violence (25th November – 10th December).
Categories
The public can nominate articles to any of these award categories:
- Best News Piece
- Best Feature
- Best investigation
- Best Opinion and Comment
Our expert steering group will nominate finalists for these award categories:
- Best Broadcast (experts’ pick)
- Wooden Spoon (‘awarded’ to a common practice that we have seen within articles that reinforces attitudes that perpetuate VAWG)
How to enter
Competition entries must be submitted through our google form. Your details will not be shared with any third party, and will only be used by us for awards-related communications.
Entry guidelines
- Entry is free
- You can submit your own or another person’s piece.
- You may also submit more than one entry per category.
- You may enter as many categories as you wish, but you must complete a different submission for each one.
No single submission will be accepted in more than one category. Please choose the most appropriate single category for your entry. If you are unsure which category to choose, please contact Sinead on media@evaw.org.uk - Submissions must have been published between 01/10/24 and 30/09/25.
- Submissions must be created in the UK or primarily reaching a UK audience.
- For Best News, Best Feature and Best Investigation, the author must have received financial compensation for the piece.
- The shortlist will be published on in November 2025 , with the winners announced during the 16 Days of Activism against Gender-Based Violence (25th November-10th December 2022)
Categories
This year we are accepting submissions and nominations for four separate award categories:
Best News
- A “hard news” story, i.e. a piece of reporting intended to communicate the facts of the story.
- The author must have received financial compensation for the piece.
- The piece may be published in any local or national UK publication, online or print.
Best Feature
- A lengthier feature piece, i.e. a piece of writing intended to provide more analysis and context than a straightforward news piece.
- The author must have received financial compensation for the piece
- The piece may be published in any local or national UK publication online or print.
Best Investigation
- A piece that involved significant work to uncover information in the public interest, which impacts understanding or experiences relating to violence against women and girls
- The author must have received financial compensation for the piece.
- The piece may be published in any local or national UK publication, online or print.
Best Opinion and Comment
- A piece where the author expresses their personal opinion.
- The piece may be published in any local or national UK publication, online or print.
Wooden Spoon
We will present a Wooden Spoon prize to a problematic theme that we have seen in some reporting of violence against women over the year.
What we’re looking for
When choosing the pieces we think deserve recognition we look for a number of qualities. They will be judged on three criteria:
- How well written is the piece?
- Is this a good piece of journalism?
- Is the quality of the writing good?
- Does it flow well? Is language well utilised?
- Is it enjoyable to read?
- Does this piece challenge gender inequality and/or violence against women?
Does the piece:
- Follow good practice guidelines when discussing violence against women and girls
- Effectively raise awareness about gender equalityas an issue and challenge it?
- Challenge or reinforce myths and stereotypes? e.g. implying the survivor is to blame; portraying perpetrators as beasts or fiends, or as misunderstood anti-heroes; describing violence as crimes of passion etc.
- Use quotes from experts, facts, or figures to place the story in a wider context of VAWG?
- Talk about the root cause of VAWG?
- Include the voice or the impact of this violence on a victim-survivor?
- Treat the victim-survivor of abuse or violence with respect for their experience, dignity, and safety?
- Provide helplines at the end of the article?
- Does this piece have a wow factor?
- Is it innovative?
- Is it original?
- Does it contribute something new to the discourse?
- Is it on an unusual topic, or does it shed new light on an old topic?
- Does it give an interesting perspective to a story?
- Is it from a voice you haven’t heard before?
- Is it from the perspective of an underrepresented group?
- Does it make you think?
The pieces will be shortlisted by our steering group and judged by a panel of industry experts.
For more information on how writing may challenge VAWG see Zero Tolerance’s media guidelines on VAWG.
Writing in other languages
We are keen to ensure that the Write to End Violence Against Women Awards receive as broad a range of submissions as possible. We also know that many people writing on gender equality and violence against women in the UK will be doing so in another language.
Unfortunately, due to our staff capacity and time constraints, we can only accept pieces that have been translated into English (this is something we are keen to change in the future years).
However, if you are unable to translate your piece, please let us know – we will do all we can to share it among our networks and find someone with the expertise to get your piece translated and eligible for submission.