Sammy 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.
Woman’s Place UK raise 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.
Nominees
Hawa De Sesay
Jessica Eaton
Josephine Bartosch
Mehala Osborne
Roxanne Ellis
Samantha Shrewsbury
Sian Norris
Humraaz Support Services
The Maya Centre
Jean rides her bike for each of the women murdered by men as a result of intimate partner or family violence. She began the project in 2017 by riding for all the women murdered in 2016 and in 2018 completed 183 rides and ridden almost 5000 miles. She keeps the names of the women in the memory of the public by highlighting the details of how they died and indicating the male perpetrator tactics that were used. So it is partly to honour the women and celebrate their life and partly to raise awareness of the dynamics of intimate partner abuse.