Nominees 2025


We’re delighted to announce the shortlist of feminist campaigners for the 2025 Emma Humphreys Memorial Prize and Centre for Women’s Justice Award.

This year we received more than 70 nominations, with many outstanding candidates. In addition to the final shortlist, given the number of extremely strong nominations, we have also drawn up a longlist of 13 nominees to recognise their inspiring work.

Join us in celebrating all our nominees, and don’t miss the announcement of this year’s winners on Friday 10 October at the FiLiA Conference in Brighton.

 
 
 

2025 Shortlist

Caroline Grant
Caroline is CEO of The First Step, a specialist independent domestic abuse charity providing trauma-informed support to residents of Knowsley, Merseyside as well as refuge accommodation for women and children fleeing abuse from across the UK.

In 2023, the Femicide Census identified Merseyside as having the UK’s highest rate of women killed by men, with Knowsley topping national figures. Caroline spoke about the issue at the National Labour Party Conference and mobilised the specialist VAWG sector across Merseyside to commission and fund a landmark independent review – ‘Femicide in Merseyside: 15 Years of Failing Women’- covering all cases since 2009.

 

For Women Scotland
For Women Scotland is a grassroots group founded in 2018 in response to proposed reforms to Scotland’s Gender Recognition Act to remove the requirement for a medical diagnosis of gender dysphoria for people wishing to change their legal sex.  In April 2025, the group won a landmark Supreme Court ruling affirming that terms like ‘woman’ in the Equality Act 2010 refer to biological females.

 

Francesca Barker Mills
Francesca is an advocate for justice-affected women, she uses her own lived experience of imprisonment to challenge stigma, shift narratives, and influence change.

As the founder of the Coming Home Project, Francesca creates opportunities for women to rebuild their lives beyond the label of ‘offender’. She has written for national media, appeared on TV and radio, and uses social platforms to call out inequality, hold systems to account, and demand better from policymakers, the press, and the public. She is an example of what lived experience looks like when turned into leadership and is committed to making justice work for women, not against them.

 

Hayley Crawford
Hayley has consistently and passionately campaigned and worked for the safety of women and girls. In her former professional role as the Substance Misuse and Sexual Violence (Prevention) Strategic Coordinator for Lincolnshire County Council she set up projects which directly and practically protected women in night-time venues.

She created the ‘Ask for Angela’ safety campaign and scheme, which was widely adopted in the UK and abroad, and another which actively protected women from drink-spiking. She continued working for women’s safety when she joined the police force and was commended in 2024 by her Chief Constable for her leadership in tackling violence against women and girls.

 

Hibo Wardere
Hibo was subjected to Type-3 female genital mutilation (FGM) at the age of six. In 1989, she moved to London as a refugee during the Somali Civil War. In 2012 she spoke out publicly against the harmful practice of FGM, and since then her campaigning has made her one of the most prominent anti-FGM campaigners in the UK. 

In 2016 she published the book ‘CUT: One Woman's Fight Against FGM in Britain Today’ and she founded the charity Educate Not Mutilate in 2023. She continues to work in schools and medical settings to educate young people, teachers and medical practitioners about FGM and how to safeguard girls from the practice and minimise the trauma for women who have already undergone FGM.

 

Kellie Ziemba
Kellie is a survivor, activist, and CEO of Kairos Women Working Together, a Coventry-based feminist charity supporting marginalised women at risk of sexual exploitation and male violence.

Kellie’s journey is rooted in her own survival of childhood abuse, grooming, and exploitation. Finding solace in women-only spaces and services was critical to her recovery and fuels her commitment to protecting them for other women. In 2018 at the FiLiA conference, she found feminism, solidarity, and purpose. Since then, she has held leadership roles in women’s services, founded a local feminist group, and become a prominent voice for survivors.

Today, she is part of FiLiA’s Women First Project, a group of survivors and professionals providing real solutions to prostitution through engagement with local authorities and commissioning bodies.  Kellie advocates for women-only services, the abolition of the sex trade, and the adoption of the Nordic Model to support women and hold the men who exploit them accountable.

 

Natalie Collins
Natalie is the Creator of the Own My Life course; an innovative, creative and educational course supporting women to regain ownership of their lives after men have subjected them to abuse or violence.

Natalie has published two books, ‘Out of Control - Couples, Conflict and the Capacity for Change’ and ‘Abuse is a Verb’, which both increase knowledge and raise awareness about abuse and its impact. She is an active feminist and a national and international speaker on women’s rights and men’s violence against women and girls.

 

Nina Aouilk
Nina is an advocate and global voice against gender-based violence, blending personal storytelling, public speaking, media outreach, and grassroots advocacy. As a survivor herself, she uses her voice to spotlight the often-hidden issues of honour-based abuse, coercive control, and cultural violence. She has written extensively and uses social media to reach diverse audiences, particularly young people and marginalised communities, offering education, support, and inspiration.

 

Samantha Walker-Roberts
Samantha was subject to child sexual exploitation from the age of 12. The vast majority of her abusers went unpunished, and Samantha has spent more than a decade trying to establish why.

Using data protection laws and official complaints processes to unearth evidence, she pieced together how she was failed by those employed to protect her. Despite both Greater Manchester Police and the IOPC upholding many of Samantha's complaints, no fresh charges have been brought against the suspects still at large and no officer has faced a misconduct charge. This prompted Samantha to call for an independent inquiry into child sexual exploitation in Oldham and the Government has subsequently announced the town will be subject to a local inquiry with statutory powers. Her hope is that exposing past failings will lead to greater scrutiny - improving outcomes for current victims of child sexual exploitation.

 

Yasmin Javed
Yasmin Javed's only child, Fawziyah Javed was murdered by her husband. In September 2021 Fawziyah, who was four months pregnant, was pushed off Arthur’s Seat in Edinburgh.

Yasmin gave permission for her and the family to be filmed by Channel 4 during the court trial and the two-part documentary was televised in 2024. She has given several press interviews to raise awareness of honour-based violence (HBV) and been a speaker at Scottish and English parliament in order to bring change.

Yasmin has also worked with the charity Karma Nirvana and she is part of the group Killed Women.

 

2025 Longlist

  • Blu is the founder of That’s Still Rape, a non-profit challenging rape myths. Through creative media and national campaigns they shift the narrative around rape - debunking misinformation, challenging victim blaming and holding perpetrators accountable.

    She authored ‘Beyond the Headlines’, the UK’s first set of media guidelines for reporting on rape. The guidelines are a free resource designed to help journalists report on rape responsibly, accurately and without reinforcing harmful myths.

  • Charlotte founded Open Justice For All, a collective of victim-survivors campaigning for cost-free access to court transcripts of their trials. Many victim-survivors choose not to attend their trials due to fear of facing their abusers again, some who do are not able to fully process proceedings because of the traumatising nature of being present at court and so access to court transcripts is vital.

    Charlotte's campaign secured a pilot scheme for cost-free access to judge's sentencing remarks, and in May 2025, was recognised by the Minister for Violence Against Women and Girls when the pilot scheme was made permanent following a recommendation from the Independent Sentencing Review.

  • Issy is a former Metropolitan Police 999-call handler who whistleblew on discriminatory behaviour within the force.  She founded Speak Up Now UK for public sector employees to share their experiences of misconduct in the UK’s public and emergency services. Using the testimonies, case studies, interviews and data collected, an annual report will be created to deliver to government.

  • Since 2010 Jacqueline and Fatima have worked to obtain justice for women who are experiencing extreme disadvantage and who are victims of sexual violence in East London. They have supported more than 200 women to access sexual violence services and onwards support.

  • Julie was groomed into prostitution at 15, she got away from her pimp at 17, though he continued to terrorise her afterwards for years. Julie became addicted to heroin and was on the streets selling her body until she was 31.

    Drawing on her lived experience, she now speaks nationally and internationally against the stigma and inequalities faced by women in prostitution. Julie played a key role in a landmark legal case challenging the disclosure of loitering and soliciting convictions, which led to reforms allowing such records to be filtered. Following this, she co-founded the HOPE (History Of Prostitution Expunged) campaign with another survivor.

    Julie also bravely fought to have one of the men who abused her prosecuted decades later, resulting in his conviction for rape.     

  • Dipti works in her free time to extend support to survivors of domestic abuse and sexual abuse in both her work as a police officer and also for Safe Lives. She is pioneering an innovative new support network for staff serving in Leicestershire Police who have lived experience of domestic abuse or sexual abuse. This is something that hasn’t been provided before and will improve the force’s support and wellbeing offering.

  • In 2023 Sharon’s daughter, Chloe Holland, took her own life due to the abusive and coercive behaviour of her former partner. The police overlooked numerous opportunities to safeguard Chloe during her life and subsequently failed to conduct a thorough investigation into her death. Sharon initiated a major campaign aimed at highlighting the systemic failures of the state in addressing domestic abuse related suicides.

  • SHERA (See Hear Empower Respond Act) is a multidisciplinary collective focused on studying the health, legal, economic, and social impacts of domestic abuse on women and children. Members include researchers, legal professionals, health practitioners, activists, and survivors.

    Their work includes investigating how legal and family court systems affect the wellbeing of survivors, particularly mothers and their children, and how court practices like parental alienation may compound trauma. SHERA also researches abuse perpetrator behaviour, and the specific challenges faced by minoritised, disabled or migrant women.

  • SLEEC (Survivors Leading Essential Education & Change) is a UK-based, survivor-led organisation committed to challenging misogyny, rape culture and male violence by centring on those with lived experience. They provide support, education, research, training and events.

  • Soma is an activist and founder of Everyone’s Invited, a movement that tackles rape culture through anonymous survivor testimonies. Launched in 2020 after Soma shared her own experiences online, the platform grew into a national initiative exposing systemic abuse, particularly in UK schools and universities.

    Soma’s work has sparked widespread conversations about consent, education, and accountability.

  • Sophia campaigns for gender equality globally. Her work includes writing articles and being a country representative and ambassador for HASSL, which targets harassment at the root cause. Additionally, she used her position on the Young Reporter scheme to publish an informative article about sexism in her town. Additionally, she is translator at Praget Foundation, so that information about sexism and social change can be accessible to communities globally. 

    Furthermore, she founded The Gender Jotter, a social initiative that aims to flip the narrative and help women and girls reclaim their stories.

  • Through her work with Women’s Aid, Teresa provided training for newsrooms and organised roundtable sessions with the Independent Press Standards Organisation so that the media better understands domestic abuse, survivors’ voices are heard and reporters/journalists consider the impact that their reporting style could have on someone. 

    Teresa also worked collaboratively with the football industry to help develop a national campaign 'Football United Against Domestic Violence'. She worked closely with national organisations including the PFA and Premier League, as well as directly with clubs to raise awareness of domestic abuse as an issue, recommending best practice, developing bespoke training with clubs and creating public awareness.

  • Zoe is a prominent campaigner, consultant, and survivor of domestic abuse. She has made fundamental changes in both the criminal and family justice system using her own experiences to highlight failings and has changed legislation to close loopholes.

    Zoe is on the Trust Board of Paladin National stalking advocacy service and sits on the Victim & Witness Engagement Group at Ministry of Justice inputting into court reform.