Laura Bates BEM
Areas of Interest
Campaigner, EducationHonorary Award
Honorary Doctor of ArtsCitation
Vice Chancellor, it is my pleasure to read the citation for Laura Bates for the award of Honorary Doctor of Arts.
Laura Bates is an academic, journalist, best-selling author, feminist activist, and founder of the Everyday Sexism Project.
Laura grew up in Hackney, and later, Taunton - where she attended King’s College. A talented student, she went on to read English at St. John’s College, Cambridge, graduating in 2007.
She stayed at Cambridge for two years, working as a researcher. Then her career took a twist as she took on a variety of short-term jobs. Working as an actor, she frequently experienced sexism during her auditions. And in her role as a nanny, she became acutely aware that many of the young girls in her care had become preoccupied with their body image.
Faced with such endemic and deeply embedded problems, it would have been very easy simply to accept the status quo. Yet with a fierce determination, Laura resolved to act. And the remarkable next phase of her career began.
In 2012, Laura founded the Everyday Sexism Project – a safe online space where people can record instances of sexism they experience on a day to day basis.
Laura’s objective was to highlight the startling level of sexism faced by ordinary women and girls, in ordinary places. And today, more than a quarter of a million people have shared their stories on the platform. Indeed the project is credited with playing a major role in the rise of fourth wave feminism – a movement focussed on the empowerment of women.
In 2014, Laura published her first book, Everyday Sexism, a critically acclaimed analysis of endemic misogyny and how to challenge it. Such was the book’s reception that Laura was encouraged to continue her writing, and to date, she has published eight titles, including the Sunday Times bestseller Girl Up, and The Burning, nominated for the Carnegie Medal.
Laura has been named Woman of the Year by Cosmopolitan and the Sunday Times Magazine. She writes regularly for the Guardian and the New York Times. And she is a frequent media commentator across many high-profile current affairs programmes.
She has presented two BBC television documentaries, and is a consultant for productions tackling issues around gender inequality.
In the US, Laura has received the Women's Media Award, and been named one of CNN's 10 'Visionary Women'. The Huffington Post describes her as “the voice of her generation”.
Laura is a Fellow of the Royal Society of Literature and a Vice President of the Hay Festival. In the 2015 Queen’s birthday honours, she was awarded the British Empire Medal for services to gender equality.
Laura has been hugely influential in helping to shape policy responses both in the public and private sector. Alongside other activists, she has successfully influenced Facebook’s policies on sexual violence. She has helped to put consent on the national curriculum. And she has worked with British Transport Police to transform their approach to sexual offences.
Laura is also in great demand as a speaker, addressing audiences around the world on topics such as workplace sexual harassment, online abuse and sexism in schools.
In 2023, Laura was the keynote speaker at ARU’s first ever conference on gender-based violence. And I’m delighted to say that our university has enjoyed close links with Laura for some time.
Her unique insights have informed the work of several of ARU’s feminist scholars. Her Everyday Sexism Project is a core feature of Dr Harriet Fletcher’s module, ‘What Does it Mean to Be a Feminist?’ And Laura’s work is of profound significance for ARU’s research theme of ‘Safe and Inclusive Communities.’
As a passionate activist and campaigner of immense courage and integrity, she will be a powerful role model for all our students. We are delighted to welcome Laura Bates to our Anglia Ruskin community.
Vice Chancellor, it is my pleasure to present Laura Bates for the award of Doctor of Arts Sciences, honoris causa.