Researchers from Nottingham Trent University (NTU) and the University of Nottingham have received the Outstanding Contribution to the Local Community trophy at the 17th annual THE Awards for its work evaluating the success of Nottinghamshire Police’s misogyny hate crime policy in increasing safety for women and girls.

THE Awards – widely referred to as the ‘Oscars of higher education’ – is a significant celebration in the higher education calendar and attracts hundreds of entries from individuals, teams and institutions from all corners of the UK and Ireland.

The winning project is a collaboration between researchers at Nottingham’s two universities, taking an evidence-based approach to addressing violence, abuse and harassment directed at women and girls. This puts Nottinghamshire at the forefront of national change.

Improving the safety of women and girls in public spaces

The research project by Associate Professor Loretta Trickett [pictured above], Criminologist at Nottingham Law School, part of NTU, and University of Nottingham linguist, Professor Louise Mullany, studied the impact of Nottinghamshire Police’s policy of treating misogyny as a hate crime, which is said to be the first of its kind in the world. Having been tested on members of the public, victims and police officers, this work has improved the safety of women and girls in public spaces in Nottinghamshire and in other communities across the UK, as well as empowering them to report such crimes.

A retired Chief Constable of Nottinghamshire Police said other police forces have now implemented similar policies and that, “the evidence base that this research provides has been compelling in making the difference.”

A go-to resource in law and policing 

Having reached an audience of more than 90 million people worldwide via online media, radio and TV, the research struck a chord not just in Nottingham’s local community but far beyond.

The judges said this, “timely and successful inter-university collaboration between a linguist and a criminologist” had not only “encouraged greater reporting by victims” but had also become “the ‘go‑to’ resource in law and policing”, been “rolled out across communities and educational institutions” and “led to the establishment from September 2021 of a national register of police records of gender/sex hate crimes.”

THE editor, John Gill, said: “The Times Higher Education Awards have been recognising outstanding achievements in UK higher education for the best part of two decades, but never before have they shone a light on the level of effort and creativity that was demanded of universities throughout the 2019-20 academic year."

He continued, “The response required, and delivered, in the face of a global pandemic was unique, and many of the awards submissions reflected those unprecedented circumstances. But universities’ great strength is not just that they respond to circumstances, but that they also provide a level of constancy at times of uncertainty and change. 2019-20 was not just a year of pandemic disruption, it was also a year in which incredible achievements were made in all the areas you would hope and expect: world-changing research, brilliant learning and teaching, international and industrial engagement, and the full gamut of activities that run through universities like words through a stick of rock.”

THE Awards entry window opened in Spring 2021, and primarily focused on activity during the 2019-20 academic year.

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