The winner of the 2016 Write to End Violence Against Women Award bursary is Annie McLaughlin. Annie works as gender equality officer for the University of Strathclyde and is an enthusiastic writer in her spare time, with a Masters degree in creative writing. The standard of competition was extremely high but Annie’s passion for writing, as well as her strong working knowledge of gender issues, really shone through.
Read Annie’s interview with the Herald here
Annie said: “In my work I am responsible for helping to implement gender equality initiatives to achieve cultural change at the university, in particular to improve female representation in certain subject areas and leadership in senior management.
“I was really keen to apply for the bursary – I have always written in one form or another since I was a child.
“I thought it was a really good opportunity to combine something I have great passion for – in terms of gender equality – and use my writing skills to try and make an impact in that area.”
Annie will write pieces on topics related to violence against women and the press, which will be jointly commissioned by Zero Tolerance and the Sunday Herald (this year’s media partner). You can read all of Annie’s pieces here:
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Write to End Violence Against Women Award bursary is an opportunity for a new and aspiring writer who has not been previously published in a paid capacity.
Media reporting is one of the most important avenues through which people learn about incidences and trends of violence against women (VAW). Some media reporting demonstrates a limited understanding of VAW, endorsing myths, victim blaming and unhelpful framings. The appplications for the 2017 Write to End Violence Against Women Awards Bursary will open again in summer 2017.