Ending Violence Against Women and Girls Media Awards

Why these awards are important

By celebrating the very best journalism on issues of violence against women and girls, the Awards encourage greater investment in stories that are informed, accurate, sensitive and fair, and that help to ‘set the agenda’ and create public debate and change.
See the 2016 winners list here.

After the exposure of Jimmy Savile- as well as other well-known men who abused their position – by a daring ITV documentary, more survivors of rape and sexual abuse than ever before are approaching police and support services for help. Young women are putting Female Genital Mutilation (FGM), forced marriage, sexual harassment and the culture of sexual bullying in our schools on the agenda.

The Government in Westminster has a Violence Against Women and Girls Strategy which aims to address and prevent different forms of abuse. But victim-blaming remains a powerful inhibitor of the confidence needed to challenge abuse, and support services are facing serious cuts. Continued, high quality reporting on all forms of violence against women and girls is absolutely critical.

Journalist and Awards Chair Joan Smith explains why these awards are needed:

“The media has the capacity to create a much better informed debate about violence against women and girls. It has the reach and influence to expose apparently invisible of forms of abuse such as trafficking and so–called ‘honour’–based violence, while also challenging the state response to apparently routine and inevitable forms of abuse, including sexual and domestic violence.

“Documentaries like Roger Graef’s ground–breaking exposure of the way Thames Valley Police “interrogated” a rape complainant as to her conduct, and more recently the London Evening Standard’s high–profile campaign on FGM, have helped to change the way our society responds to these crimes.

“These awards have been created to recognise those journalists and editors who, despite the prejudice that still exists towards victims, report on violence against women in a sensitive and constructive way.”

The inaugural award winners were announced on Friday 25th November 2016- the International Day for the Elimination of Violence Against Women.

Submissions

Please note: information about the 2018 Media Awards will be published in the autumn.

Submissions to the Ending Violence Against Media awards should help to ‘set the agenda’ and create public debate and change when reporting on issues of violence against women and girls. Nominations for each category should be informed, accurate, sensitive and fair. Winners will include those who have taken the time to understand the issues, consult with experts and survivors, report on the context of abuse and barriers to preventing it, and use sensitive language to tell important stories.

The 2016 Ending Violence Against Women and Girls Media Awards categories included:

• • News – print, digital
  • Broadcast News – TV, radio
  • Features – print, digital (includes photo journalism)
  • Documentary – audio / TV / digital platforms
  • Opinion/comment – print, digital, broadcast (includes blogs with a wide reach)
  • New journalist
  • Wooden spoon

For more information, please contact media.awards@evaw.org.uk