Buckingham lecturer and author 'delighted and honoured' to win women's rights award

A University of Buckingham law lecturer has received an award for her work over many decades fighting for women’s rights.

Senior Fellow and author Dr Jocelynne Scutt has been presented with the Iranian and Kurdish Women’s Rights Organisation (IKWRO) True Honour Award, in recognition of her commitment to fighting abuse and promoting women’s interests.

Domestic Abuse Commissioner Nicole Jacobs presented Jocelynne with the award at a ceremony in London last month. The awards are sponsored by London family law firm Dawson Cornwell.

Jocelynne has dedicated more than five decades to redressing the gender imbalance, including writing a number of books on the issue. The True Honour Award 2023 certificate is a recognition of all the changes she has helped to bring about.

University vice-chancellor James Tooley said: "Jocelynne is a fantastic advocate for women’s rights. She has done so much. She is a very worthy award winner."

Dr Scutt, who organised a Women's Parliament in Cambridge on International Women's Day, which included law student speakers from the University of Buckingham, said: "I am delighted and honoured to be recognised. There is still a long way to go to redress the gender imbalance."

Diana Nammi, founder and executive director of IKWRO said: "Women’s Rights Organisation is the leading Middle Eastern and North African women’s rights organisation tackling ‘honour’-based abuse, forced marriage, child marriage, FGM and domestic abuse in the UK. We recently succeeded in changing the law to ban virginity testing and to ban child marriage in England and Wales. By recognising and publicising outstanding commitment, we hope that we can inspire others to act."