Secularist of the Year

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Secularist of the Year
Irwin Prize
Secularist of the Year poster.jpg
The Secularist of the Year poster used at the award ceremony
Awarded forMaking an outstanding contribution to the secularist movement
LocationLondon
CountryUnited Kingdom
Presented by National Secular Society
Reward(s)£5000
First awarded2005
Website www.secularism.org.uk/soty

Secularist of the Year, also known as the Irwin Prize, is an award presented annually in the United Kingdom by the National Secular Society in "recognition of an individual or an organisation considered to have made an outstanding contribution to the secularist movement." [1]

Contents

The award was established in 2005, and until 2017 it was sponsored by and named after humanist and secularist campaigner Dr. Michael Irwin. The prize consisted of a trophy, the "Golden Ammonite", and a cheque for £5000. The last time Secularist of the Year was awarded was in 2019. [1]

List of recipients

List of recipients of the Secularist of the Year
YearPortraitNameCitation [1] PresenterRef.
2005 Maryam Namazie (5462113048) (cropped).jpg Maryam Namazie For "her work in defence of women's rights and the right to freedom of expression" Polly Toynbee [2]
2006 Steve Jones.png Steve Jones For "his contribution to the promotion of secularism" Dick Taverne [3]
2007 Mina Ahadi.jpg Mina Ahadi For "her life opposing the mistreatment of women by the Iranian clerical regime" Joan Smith [4]
2008Not awarded
2009 Lord-Avebury-2006.jpg Eric Lubbock For "their work in the abolition of blasphemy law" Richard Dawkins [5] [6]
Evan Harris.jpg Evan Harris
2010 Southall Black Sisters [lower-alpha 1] For "their support of black and Asian women's human rights" Michael Irwin [7]
2011 Sophie in 't Veld - Candidate for the European Parliament for D66.jpg Sophie in 't Veld For "her work as chair of the European Parliamentary Platform for Secularism in Politic" A. C. Grayling [8]
2012 Peter Tatchell - Red Wall - 8by10 - 2016-10-15.jpg Peter Tatchell For "his lifelong commitment to the defence of human rights against religious fundamentalism" Nick Cohen [9]
2013 Plan UK [lower-alpha 2] "In honour of young human rights activist Malala Yousafzai, the prize was donated to Plan UK" for its campaign to ensure equal access to education for girls worldwide. Michael Cashman [10]
2014 Safak Pavey (cropped).jpg Şafak Pavey For "her international work promoting secularism, Human Rights and gender equality as well as humanitarian aid and peace-building" Kerry McCarthy [11]
2015 Charlie Hebdo logo.svg Charlie Hebdo [lower-alpha 3] For "its courageous response to the terror attack on its Paris office and defence of secularism" Martin Rowson [12]
2016 Educate Together [lower-alpha 4] For "its work in challenging religious discrimination/privilege in Ireland's education system and setting out a positive vision for inclusive secular education" Julia Hartley-Brewer [13]
2017 Yasmin Rehman.jpg Yasmin Rehman For "her advocacy of a secularist approach to tackling hate crime, promoting social cohesion and the human rights of women, and challenging sectarianism and theocracy" Yasmin Alibhai-Brown [14]
2018 Phil Johnson For "their courageous campaigning work over many years to expose the institutional abuse of children and vulnerable adults in the Church of England" Peter Tatchell [15]
Graham Sawyer [16]
2019 Saif ul-Malook For "his courageous defense of Asia Bibi and other clients in Pakistan accused of blasphemy" Geoffrey Robertson [17] [18]

See also

Notes

  1. The award was accepted by Pragna Patel on behalf of the Southall Black Sisters. [7]
  2. The award was accepted by Debbie Langdon-Davies on behalf of Plan UK. [10]
  3. The award was accepted by Martin Rowson on behalf of Charlie Hebdo . [12]
  4. The award was accepted by Paul Rowe on behalf of Educate Together. [13]

Related Research Articles

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References

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  3. "Professor Steve Jones is Named 'Secularist of The Year'". National Secular Society. 9 October 2006. Archived from the original on 15 June 2021. Retrieved 7 April 2022.
  4. "Iranian Dissident Wins Secularist of The Year Prize". National Secular Society. 21 October 2007. Archived from the original on 26 October 2011. Retrieved 18 March 2012.
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  11. "Secularist of the Year awarded to Turkish MP, Safak Pavey". National Secular Society. 29 March 2014. Archived from the original on 10 July 2018. Retrieved 7 April 2022.
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  13. 1 2 "Educate Together awarded 'Secularist of the Year' prize". National Secular Society. 19 March 2016. Archived from the original on 12 June 2021. Retrieved 7 April 2022.
  14. "Yasmin Rehman named Secularist of the Year 2017". National Secular Society. 18 March 2017. Archived from the original on 12 June 2021. Retrieved 7 April 2022.
  15. Sharman, Jon (24 March 2018). "Serving Vicar Named 'Secularist of the Year' After Campaigning to Expose Sexual Abuse in Church of England". The Independent . Archived from the original on 25 March 2018. Retrieved 25 March 2018.
  16. "NSS names Phil Johnson and Graham Sawyer as Secularists of the Year". London: National Secular Society. 24 Mar 2018. Archived from the original on 12 June 2021. Retrieved 7 April 2022.
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  18. Duke, Barry (21 May 2019). "Pakistan lawyer is named Secularist of the Year by NSS". The Freethinker . Patheos. Archived from the original on 14 June 2021. Retrieved 7 April 2022.