Women’s Rights Are Human Rights

Research by Cardiff University postgraduates recognised at Wales Assembly of Women

Postgraduates from the School of English, Communication and Philosophy and the School of Social Sciences have scooped two of three prestigious awards in memory of a Welsh woman who campaigned for women’s rights across the world.

Now in their fourth year, The Audrey Jones Memorial Awards for Research by Women are presented at the Wales Assembly of Women annual conference.

The conference this year take the theme Women’s Rights are Human Rights: Enhancing Women’s Rights in Wales.

Honoured at the conference are Ruth Nortey (MSc, School of Social Sciences) and Christina Thatcher (PhD in Creative Writing, School of English, Communication and Philosophy), alongside Dr Kathryn Addicott of Cardiff Metropolitan University, who will all collect their awards from Wales Assembly Government Deputy Minister Jane Hutt AM.

They will give short presentations on their work at the afternoon session with Disabled Women in Public Life in Wales (Ruth Nortey) and ‘Say their Name’: A glimpse into how women talk and write about bereavement by Addiction (Christina Thatcher).

In a long career, Audrey Jones represented Wales on the Economic and Social Council of the United Nations and contributed to UN consultations and debates on women’s rights across the world. She taught for 40 years at St Cyres Comprehensive School in Penarth, retiring as deputy head in 1990. She died in 2015 aged 84. The awards in her name are now in their fourth year.

Co-ordinator of the Audrey Jones Memorial Awards Dr Jane Salisbury said:

“We were delighted with the quality of entries we received this year.  Audrey always felt too many research findings remained hidden away from public view. She would be thrilled to know a new platform for female scholars had been established in her name.”

Speaking at the event will be Wales Assembly of Women Chair Professor Jackie Jones on 40 Years of International Rights for Women, Kim Ann Williamson MBE on human trafficking in Wales and Chwarae Teg chief executive Cerys Furlong on the Gender Equality Review in Wales.

An NGO accredited to the Economic and Social Council of the United Nations, The Wales Assembly of Women is an independent organisation for women in Wales. Its representatives have attended every major UN world conference for women since Nairobi in 1985.

The 2019 Wales Assembly of Women conference takes place on Saturday 11 May [10am - 3.30pm] at Cardiff University’s Glamorgan Building. Conference tickets are available online (£12 including lunch and refreshments).