University receives royal award for tackling violence against women and girls
A London Metropolitan University research unit has been working on ways to tackle gender-based violence for 40 years.
A 40-year effort to end violence against women and girls has earned a London university a prestigious royal award.
The King and Queen hosted a Queen Elizabeth Prizes for higher and further education awards ceremony with the Princess Royal and the Duke and Duchess of Gloucester at St James’s Palace on Tuesday. The Duke of Edinburgh, who was originally expected to attend, was not present.
Among the 19 winners, the London Metropolitan University was rewarded for its world-leading research unit dedicated to ending violence against women and girls nationally and internationally – through interdisciplinary research, police intervention, criminal justice reform, and improved support of survivors.
At a reception after the ceremony, Camilla – who has long campaigned against domestic violence and sexual abuse – met with members of the unit and shared a brief conversation with Professor Fiona Vera-Gray, co-director of the Child and Woman Abuse Studies Unit (CWASU), and senior research fellow Jo Lovett.
The women had met Camilla more than 10 years ago around 2014, when Prof Vera-Gray was involved with the Rape Crisis charity and Ms Lovett’s work involved analysing data collected by the organisation’s centres.
“It was one of the first charities that she (Camilla) supported – not so publicly at the time, but it was there,” Prof Vera-Gray said.
“What we spoke to her about was how much that meant for ourselves as workers, but also for survivors, that someone was willing to take up a public platform on an issue that is so unspoken and taboo.
“The fact that she has been willing to put herself in that position really meant a lot, and she has absolutely carried through with it.”
Ms Lovett said: “The King was also very complimentary about the fact that a unit from a university such as ours, which is not the most prestigious compared to some others in the room, was also at the table.”
Prof Vera-Gray said CWASU started in 1987, adding: “Now, sexual violence, violence against women, it’s a topic people talk about, we’ve had support from the Queen for a really long time – but in the late 80s it wasn’t something anyone talked about, there was no research, there was no evidence base, without an evidence base there was no evidence-informed policy…
“We have led the way in terms of building the evidence base that has then created the space for policy and government to make evidence-informed decisions.”
It comes after Camilla met French rape survivor Gisele Pelicot at Clarence House on Monday, with the Queen telling the 73-year-old she was left “speechless” by the account of her ordeal in her new memoir.
The Queen wrote to Ms Pelicot last year to praise her “extraordinary dignity and courage” in a letter the survivor said left her “overwhelmed” and which is now framed in her office.
The Queen Elizabeth Prizes for higher and further education are awarded every two years to universities and colleges who submit work judged to show excellence, innovation, impact, and benefit for the institution itself, for society, and the wider world.
Also among the winners was the London Institute of Cancer Research, which has led ground-breaking research in radiotherapy to improve the effectiveness of cancer treatments, and the University of Edinburgh – of which Anne was elected chancellor in 2011 – for its world-first Centre for Fire Safety Engineering.
The University of Oxford also featured among the winners for its OpenSAFELY data analysis platform, which uses new methods to access the entire English population’s NHS GP records and enable life-saving research.
Mingling with around 200 guests at the awards reception, Charles, Camilla, and Anne appeared relaxed following a turbulent few days for the monarchy.
The event took place a day after the former UK ambassador to the US Lord Peter Mandelson was arrested on suspicion of misconduct in a public office, with allegations suggesting he passed sensitive information to paedophile financier Jeffrey Epstein during his time as business secretary.
Lord Mandelson was released on bail in the early hours of Tuesday.
The King’s brother Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor was also arrested on suspicion of misconduct in public office last week.
Andrew is accused of sharing sensitive information with Epstein while acting as a special representative for trade and investment between 2001 and 2011.
The former prince spent 11 hours in custody on his 66th birthday while officers searched his home on the Sandringham Estate in Norfolk and his former Windsor home in Berkshire before he was released under investigation.
