We’re very excited to share the shortlist for the 2018 Emma Humphreys Memorial Prize.

It’s our twentieth year of the prize and we’ve received more nominations for women working against male violence against women than ever before. It’s been wonderful to read about all the work that women are doing and the shortlisting process this year was particularly difficult.

We hope that many of you will join us at The Real Greek Bankside on the 1st of November to celebrate all our amazing nominees. Tickets available here.

2018 Individual Nominee Shortlist

Hawa De Sesay is the founder and executive director of Hawa Trust in Hackney and a qualified social worker. Hawa has used her personal experience of FGM to help others. Hawa has been supporting communities in Hackney and around the world to learn more about how FGM is a dangerous practice with devastating lifelong physical, psychological and emotional effects on the women and girls subjected to it.

Jean Hatchet is a feminist campaigner and writer. Her most recent project is a series of bike rides commemorating women who have been murdered by men known to them. She has done more than 100 commemorative rides and the money she has raised has been used to match fund an IDVA for Wearside Women in Need. Jean is continuing to ride despite her diagnosis of cancer. Jean also blogs about feminism and her own experience of surviving domestic violence at jeanhatchet.blogspot.com

Jessica Eaton is a forensic psychologist whose work focuses on victim blaming. She started the #nomoreCSEfilms campaign which has succeeded in getting a number of local authorities, police forces, and charities to stop using graphic and potentially traumatising, victim blaming resources in interventions with children affected by child sexual abuse. With Claire Paterson-Young, she recently published The Little Orange Book, which contains poems written by a young girl in a secret diary that she kept between the ages of 11 and 17 recounting her severe abuse, alongside thematic analysis, research and recommendations of supporting children experiencing sexual abuse. 

Josephine Bartosch founded the feminist group Chelt Fems and spent ten years leading the group’s campaigns against lap dancing and the sex industry within her home town. She now works nationally against the sex industry, including last December organising the ‘Hardcore Hate’ conference which brought together activists, academics, and professionals against the sex industry. She is also the director and co-founder of feminist campaign group Critical Sisters. 

Mehala Osborne is a campaigner-survivor who successfully campaigned for survivors of domestic abuse in Bristol to be placed in the highest priority band for social housing. She worked on the national campaign to allow survivors of domestic abuse to register to vote anonymously. She was involved in organising the Bristol #MeToo march in 2017, and set up BSSP Union to support survivors to access the support that they are entitled to. 

Roxanne Ellis used the Femicide Census as the inspiration to create ‘The most beautiful project that shouldn’t exist’. She decided to commemorate the 598 women killed by a current or former partner between 2009 and 2015 by creating a quilt of 598 patches, each one dedicated to a murdered woman. The finished quilt was unveiled in Parliament in the spring of 2017 and since then Roxanne has been touring the country with it, campaigning on domestic violence, challenging the way perpetrators are represented in the media, and making sure the 598 are not forgotten. 

Samantha Shrewsbury began campaigning after her daughter Jayden was murdered by her partner. She set up the campaign Jayden’s Gift, she has participated in documentaries and speaks at events, telling her daughter’s story and campaigning for the safety of other women. 

Sammy Woodhouse is an author, public speaker, campaigner, and consultant. In 2013 she gave evidence to The Times that proved that she had been abused and failed by the authorities. The resulting article named the man that abused her as the deputy leader of Rotheram council. This triggered the Alexis Jay report, which uncovered the abuse of 1,400 children in Rotherham. The largest police investigation in the UK followed, leading to a large number of perpetrators being convicted and held accountable for their abuse. Sammy campaigns against children being criminalised for crimes that they were groomed or coerced into, as well as being involved in a number of other campaigns around education, counselling services, sex venue licensing laws, and criminal injuries compensation for survivors of sexual violence. Sammy has published a book about her experiences.

Sian Norris has been a writer and feminist activist for over ten years. Between 2007 – 2013 she co-organised three Reclaim the Night marches, while co-running the Bristol Feminist Network. She is the founder and director of the Bristol Women’s Literature Festival which aims to tackle cultural femicide. She has written on male violence against women for the Guardian, New Statesman, OpenDemocracy 50:50, Prospect UK, the Pool, and politics.co.uk 

2018 Group Nominee Shortlist

Humraaz Support Services provide confidential specialist support to Black and Minority Ethnic women who have experienced domestic abuse and all forms of harmful traditional practices. They campaign locally and nationally, participating in marches and speaking events, joining with other initiatives, and partnering with a local arts group to set up a women’s garden dedicated to the ‘art of healing’. 

The Maya Centre provides free counselling for women on a low income who have experienced male violence and abuse. The centre runs the ‘I Am’ programme which uses art and media as a vehicle to build resilience and empowerment. The group holds events, including at the Free Word Centre, and the House of Lords, featuring women’s stories in their own words. 

Woman’s Place UK raises awareness of the issues raised by the proposed Gender Recognition Act. They campaign for women only spaces to be protected and extended where necessary, and for the government to consult with the women’s sector on gender identity self-declaration and exemptions to the Equality Act for single sex services and spaces. They have held meetings all over the country and make an active contribution through social and traditional media about the need to protect women’s single sex services and spaces.