Winners announced: Write to End Violence Against Women Awards 2023

Yesterday (28th November 2023), the End Violence Against Women Coalition and Zero Tolerance held an awards ceremony for the 2023 Write to End Violence Against Women Awards.

The annual awards recognise UK journalists and writers who raise awareness and report responsibly, sensitively and accurately on violence against women and girls.

The media plays a critical role in shaping our collective attitudes to this violence, and quality reporting can both raise awareness and help prevent this abuse. As part of the 16 Days of Activism Against Gender-Based Violence, this event brought together regulators, journalists, editors, survivors and experts in violence against women to celebrate those making a difference and reach others with what responsible reporting looks like.

Judging our awards were award-winning writer, journalist, former barrister, professor and filmmaker Afua Hirsch; Head of Complaints at IPSO Alice Gould; the CEO of IMPRESS, Lexie Kirkconnell-Kawana, and the Domestic Abuse Commissioner for England & Wales, Nicole Jacobs.

Our expert judges talked about why this work is so important, and how journalists, editors and regulators can be a vital part of the movement to end violence against women and girls.

We are also incredibly grateful to our expert speaker: visual artist, writer, and long-time VAWG campaigner and community builder Tashmia Owen, who powerfully shared her own experience of gender-based violence and victim-blaming, and how the media’s reporting on violence against women both has a profound impact on survivors and reinforces society’s harmful myths and attitudes.

Tashmia also reflected on this year’s Wooden Spoon award: the invisibilisation of Black and minoritised women in reporting; how journalists and editors have a responsibility to help change a media landscape in which minoritised women’s voices are systematically not heard or platformed, and violence against them not given equal public attention.

We were also grateful to Rasheda Malcolm, CEO of the WILDE Foundation and Jemima Olchawski, CEO of the Fawcett Society, for sharing their experience of driving the first ever upheld complaint to IPSO on the basis of sexism.

A big thank you to everyone who nominated articles for an award, and to our steering group for their support and shortlisting. And congratulations to all this year’s winners!

Andrea Simon, Director of the End Violence Against Women Coalition (EVAW), said:

“The media’s reporting of violence against women and girls can play a vital role in ending it. It can increase our understanding of this abuse and challenge its place in society. But as we see all too often, it can also reinforce victim-blaming attitudes and beliefs that violence against women and girls is a normal part of life.

We know that violence against women is not inevitable, and that by shifting our collective attitudes and beliefs and addressing the inequality that underpins them, we can create a world without this abuse.”

Winners

Best News

Author: Connie Dimsdale

Title: ‘I was groomed on Facebook’: Child abuse victims demand action to tackle targeting of girls online

Publication: The i Newspaper

Date: 28^th April 2023

Special Recognition: Best Investigation

Authors: Rosamund Urwin, Charlotte Wace and Paul Morgan-Bentley

Title: Russell Brand accused of rape, sexual assaults and abuse

Date: 16th September 2023

Best Feature

Author: Harriet Hall

Title: The rise of the mega misogynists

Publication: Cosmopolitan

Date: 22^nd November 2023

Best Opinion and Comment

Author: Daniella Theis

Title: Victim blaming deeply affects survivors of sexual assault

Publication: The Herald

Date: 12^th June 2023

 

Best Blog and Self-Published

Author: Estelle Uba

Title: ‘Missing White Woman’ syndrome: Is the media to blame for racial bias in police searches?

Publication: Gen-Z Talks

Date: 9^th April 2023

Wooden Spoon

Black and minoritised victims and survivors of gender-based violence: invisibilised in the media

Shortlist

News

Rape victims are having to choose between jailing their attacker and getting therapy

By Serina Sandhu

18^th October 2022

The i newspaper

I was raped by a Premier League footballer – and keep seeing his face on the TV’: Too scared to go to the police or tell her family, Chloe has lived with her trauma for eight years. Now she feels it’s time to speak out

By Jack Gaughan

20^th July 2023

The Daily Mail

Russell Brand accused of rape, sexual assaults and abuse

By Charlotte Wace, Rosamund Urwin and Paul Morgan-Bentley

16^th September 2023

The Times

“Men have to change the attitudes of their gender”: Sadiq Khan launches anti-sexism ‘toolkit’ for boys

By Harriet Hall

08^th November 2022

Cosmopolitan

‘I was groomed on Facebook’: Child abuse victims demand action to tackle targeting of girls online

By Connie Dimsdale

28^th April 2023

The i newspaper

Features

“My abusive white partner used my race against me – a survivor’s story” 

By Leah Mahon

1^st July 2023

The Voice

Andrew Tate and the rise of the mega misogynists (print piece)

By Harriet Hall

14^th November 2023

Cosmopolitan

I was sued by my rapist: The stark rise in abusers trying to silence women for speaking out 

By Catriona Innes and Jennifer Savin

13^th June 2023

Cosmopolitan

It’s Time To Pay More Attention To The UK’s Black Femicide Crisis

By Hannah Uguru

8^th June 2023

Refinery29

This is what it’s actually like to report a rape in England in 2023

By Sophie Gallagher

27^th September 2023

The i newspaper

“The killing of Joanna Simpson: she was bludgeoned and buried by her husband. Why is he being set free?” 

By Anna Moore

3^rd May 2023

The Guardian

Opinion and comment

Misogyny Isn’t Less Extreme Now Than In The Noughties – It’s Better Hidden 

By Laura Bates

26^th September 2023

Grazia

Rise of Andrew Tate and incels makes 1980s-style misogyny seem almost tame

By Catherine Deveney 

6^th September 2023

The Press & Journal

Victim blaming deeply affects survivors of sexual assault

By Daniella Theis

12^th June 2023

The Herald

Think women’s rights have gone ‘far enough’? Tell that to the 109 women killed last year

By Lucy Morgan 

10^th March 2023

Glamour

Women’s fears on public transport limits their lives

By Catriona Stewart

10^th March 2023

The Herald

Blog and self-published

Being Culturally Competent: Shattering Excuses for Abuse

By Meena Kumari

22^nd May 2023

H.O.P.E Training & Consultancy

Why True Crime is a Misnomer and How We Can Reframe the Conversation

By Amber Kerri Wilkinson

22^nd October 2022

“‘Missing White Woman’ syndrome: Is the media to blame for racial bias in police searches?” 

By Estelle Uba

9^th April 2023

Gen-Z Talks
 

Broadcast: Experts’ Pick

Undercover: Sexual Harassment -The Truth

By Ellie Flynn

Channel 4

The Death of Kellie Sutton

By Claudia Williams and Louise Tickle

Tortoise Media

#ReportIt campaign 

By James Diamond

Planet Radio/Greatest Hits Radio/Bauer Media

ENDS

Media contacts

EVAW: Sinead Geoghegan, Communications Manager, sinead.geoghegan@evaw.org.uk, 07960 744 502

Zero Tolerance: Lynne Wham, Communications Officer, info@zerotolerance.org.uk, 07826 558 090

About the End Violence Against Women Coalition 

The End Violence Against Women Coalition (EVAW) is a leading UK-wide coalition of over 120 specialist women’s support services, researchers, activists, survivors and NGOs working to end violence against women and girls in all its forms.

About Zero Tolerance    

Zero Tolerance is a Scottish charity working to end men’s violence against women by tackling the root cause of this violence; gender inequality.   Zero Tolerance offers a range of resources for journalists including  free stock images to illustrate articles dealing with violence against women.  https://www.zerotolerance.org.uk/