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Write to End Violence Against Women Awards: Winners announced
Date Published
December 12, 2022
We’re pleased to announce the winners of our 2022 Write to End Violence Against Women Awards!
The awards, held annually in partnership with EVAW member Zero Tolerance, recognise and reward journalists, writers, and content creators across the UK who raise awareness and report responsibly, sensitively and accurately on violence against women and girls.
On Thursday 8 December 2022, during the 16 Days of Activism Against Gender-Based Violence, we hosted our awards event and announced the winners of each award.
We were delighted to hear from many of our expert judges about why this work is so important: campaigner and feminist writer Laura Bates, British journalist, writer and broadcaster at the BBC Samira Ahmed, Head of Standards and Regulation at IPSO Jane Debois, and Head of Regulation at IMPRESS, Lexie Kirkconnell-Kawana.
We are also grateful to hear from award-winning domestic abuse advocate and author, Luke Hart, who spoke about his experience as a survivor of fatal domestic abuse and perspective on the real life consequences of poor and irresponsible reporting on violence against women.
Luke’s firsthand experience of deeply harmful media reporting powerfully drove home why our expert steering group awarded this year’s Wooden Spoon to reporting that is sympathetic to the perpetrator and fails to name the crime committed.
A big thank you to everyone who submitted articles for consideration and our steering group for their support and shortlisting. And congratulations to all the 2022 winners!
Winners
Best Piece – News
Author: Marion Scott
Publication: The Sunday Post
Date: 27th March 2022
Best Piece – Features
Author: Dania Akkad
Title:After #WhereisNoof, Qatari women question how safe they really are
Publication: Middle East Eye
Date: 2nd February 2022
Best Piece – Opinion and Comment
Author: Anna Moore
Title: Frank Mullane: how the murder of his sister and nephew changed his life and purpose
Publication: The Guardian
Date: 27th October 2021
Best Piece – Blog and Self-Published
Author: Winnie M Li
Title: The Emotional Labour of Dealing with the Media
Publication: On Road Media
Date: 5th July 2022
Wooden Spoon
Reporting that is sympathetic to the perpetrator and fails to name the crime committed.
We’ve all seen countless examples:
- Describing child sexual assault and abuse as ‘sex’
- Describing perpetrators of violent offences as ‘admirers’ or ‘jilted lovers’
- Reporting neighbours’ descriptions of violent perpetrators as ‘a nice chap’ or ‘family man’
- Framing crimes as perpetrated by men ‘pushed to the edge’ or left with no choice but to commit violence against women due to her words, actions or beliefs
Reporting like this doesn’t just harm the individuals involved in the piece, but promotes and reinforces victim-blaming narratives and beliefs and actively shapes the attitudes and behaviours of society as a whole.
Shortlist
News
Judged by Jane Debois, Head of Standards & Regulation at Independent Press Standards Organisation (IPSO)
Author: Pritti Mistry
Title: Domesic abuse protection orders “absolutely pointelss” say victims
Publication: BBC News
Date: 21st September 2022
Author: Billy Briggs
Title: Women had suicidal thoughts after misogynistic abuse by Patriotic Alternative’s supporters
Publication: The Ferret
Date: 9th January 2022
Author: Harriet Clugston
Publication: National World
Date: 2nd November 2021
Author: Hannah Partos
Title: Life after FGM
Publication: Positive.News
Date: 2nd February 2022
Author: Marion Scott & Alice Hinds
Publication: The Sunday Post
Date: 12th December 2021
Author: Alys Harte & Rachel Stonehouse
Title: Reproductive coercion: ‘I wasn’t allowed to take my pill’
Publication: BBC News
Date: 14th March 2022
Features
Judged by Lexie Kirkconnell-Kawana (she/her),Head of Regulation at IMPRESS
Author: Zainab Iqbal
Title: The problem is men: Muslim women speak out against abuse in the US
Publication: Middle East Eye
Date: 28 July 2022
Author: Nadine White
Title: Child Q’s abuse reminds us that Black people are dehumanised every day
Publication: Independent
Date: 16th March 2022
Author: Sirin Kale
Title: ‘Honour killings? It should be called the devil’s work’: Bekhal Mahmod on the murder of her sister
Publication: The Guardian
Date: 22nd June 2022
Author: Louise Wilson
Publication: Holyrood
Date: 16th March 2022
Author: Hannah Al-Olthmen and Megan Agnew
Title: The army’s shameful secret
Publication: The Times
Date: 30th January 2022
Author: Stephen Stewart
Title: Women in football: Our investigation reveals scale of sexist abuse facing those who love the game
Publication: Press and Journal
Date: 16th February 2022
Opinion and comment
Judged by Samira Ahmed is an award-winning journalist with 20 years’ experience in print and broadcast, and is a Visiting Professor of Journalism at Kingston University
Author: Sophie Gallagher
Title: Why do we ask this one terrible question every time a woman is killed?
Publication: Independent
Date: 7th July 2022
Author: Anna Moore
Publication: The Guardian
Date: 3rd March 2022
Author: Dania Akkad
Title: After #WhereisNoof, Qatari women question how safe they really are
Publication: Middle East Eye
Date: 2nd February 2022
Blog and self-published
Judged by Laura Bates, feminist campaigner and author and founder of the award-winning Everyday Sexism Project
Author: Olivia Dickinson
Title: Like a girl: Gender stereotypes in education
Publication: Optimus Education
Date: 23rd November 2021
Author: Caitlin Stuart-Delavaine
Title: Violence against women isn’t inevitable, it’s unbearable
Publication: University of Glasgow
Date: 7th October 2021
Author: Elizabeth Dalgarno, Natalie Page, Mukesh Kapila
Title: The malignant pseudo-science of ‘parental alienation’
Publication: Mukesh Kapila Blog
Date: 10th October 2021
Author: Lady Ragnell
Title: A Domestic Abuse, Victim vs. Survivor?
Publication: The Medium
Date: 16th February 2022
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
Notes to editors
- The End Violence Against Women Coalition has long worked with the media to shape and improve reporting on violence against women and girls, holding annual awards recognising those that have had a positive impact on public narratives. Information about our previous awards can be found here: https://www.endviolenceagainstwomen.org.uk/campaign/ending-violence-against-women-and-girls-media-awards/
- Zero Tolerance’s Write to End Violence Against Women Awards has been an annual event since 2013. Previous to 2022, our awards were only open to writers and journalists in Scotland.
- The nominated pieces are shortlisted by our steering group of activists and representatives from women’s organisations and will be published in November 2022. 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).
- More information about the Awards can be found here: https://www.zerotolerance.org.uk/work-awards/
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/
Date Published
December 12, 2022
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