Write to End Violence Against Women Awards is now UK Wide

Zero Tolerance has joined up with EVAW (End Violence Against Women Coalition) and other organisations to expand the Write to End Violence Against Women (WEVAW) Awards across the whole of the UK.  Find out how to nominate good articles and our role in this year’s awards.

About the awards

The WEVAW Awards were first held in Scotland in 2013.  They were designed to recognise and reward journalists, writers and content creators who raise awareness of gender inequality and Violence Against Women and Girls (VAWG).

The awards recognise the positive role media can play in challenging VAWG and in educating people on the issues that help to create gender inequality.  This year marks 10 years since the first awards were given and is the first year that it has been made UK-wide.

As members of the Steering Group (invited because of our media campaigning) we are sharing our knowledge to help shape this year’s awards, planning and sharing publicity and helping to read through a shortlist of submitted articles.

‘We are very pleased to have been invited to join the Steering Group for this year’s awards, which will help to shape how they are opened out to the UK,’ Karen Jardine, Campaigns and Communications Officer for Notts SVSS said.  ‘The WEVAW Awards are important because it shows that there is another, better way of reporting.  One which does not resort to the type of lazy myths that we often challenge through our No More Rape Myths campaign. One that upholds women and challenges the myths and stereotypes that enable violence to take place.’

Seen an article you believe deserves an award?

Have you seen an article on any aspect of VAWG or which tackles gender inequality?  If you think it should be considered for an award, you can submit details online.  Entry is free and it can be your own article or one written by someone else.  The article must have been published between 01/10/21 and 30/09/22 and (with the exception of blog submissions) must have appeared in any local or national UK publication, online or print.

There are several categories which articles can be submitted under, which include:
Best Piece – News
A “hard news” story, i.e. a piece of reporting intended to communicate the facts of the story.

Best Piece – Feature
A lengthier feature piece, i.e. a piece of writing intended to provide more analysis and context than a straightforward news piece.

Best Piece – Opinion and Comment
A piece where the author expresses their personal opinion.

Best Piece – Blogs and Self Published Articles
The piece might include a post with the author’s own opinions, a review, or commentary on policy, research or world events.
The piece may be published on blogging sites or organisational blogs. Personal blogs and websites are accepted as long as they are freely available online.

Details of previous winners include:

• Nowhere to Go (an article on how No Recourse to Public Funds leaves women experiencing abuse without support)
• An article on the so-called Rape Clause, which looks at the many problems facing those affected by the clause and the two-child benefit rule.
• An opinion piece on the long-term effect of being sexually assaulted in the street.
• An opinion piece on prostitution in Scotland, questioning why perpetrators of what is a form of violence against women enjoy impunity.

You can find out more about nominating an article on this link: https://www.zerotolerance.org.uk/wevaw-how-enter/

Wooden Spoon

Every year a Wooden Spoon is awarded to a problematic theme that has been seen in some reporting of violence against women that year.

WEVAW are taking suggestions on the theme for the 2022 Wooden Spoon should be.  Email your suggestions direct to Jo at Zero Tolerance: jo.zawadzka@zerotolerance.org.uk

Help make the awards a success…

We are really excited about the WEVAW award being made UK-wide and need your help to make it a success.  You can do this by:

• Nominating articles for an award or themes for the Wooden Spoon. You can find out more here: https://www.zerotolerance.org.uk/wevaw-how-enter/
• Sharing publicity for the award. You can share posts from our Twitter, Instagram or Facebook pages or follow Zero Tolerance or EVAW online for more shareable content.