Abuse survivor Sammy Woodhouse in line for national anti-violence award

Sammy (pictured) - now a child sexual exploitation campaigner - is one of nine women on the shortlist for this year’s Emma Humphreys Memorial Prize.

The award is in its 20th year and judges said they had received more nominations than ever. A spokeswoman added: “The shortlisting process this year was particularly difficult.”

Sammy (33) helped expose the Rotherham abuse scandal and saw her abuser Arshid Hussain jailed for 35 years in February 2016.

She first spoke about her abuse and carried out campaign work under the pseudonym Jessica. But in March 2017 she waived her right to anonymity to take her work further.

Reacting to the news of her nomination, Sammy said she was “chuffed to bits”.

Sammy said she was looking forward to meeting the other nominees at the November 1 awards ceremony in London and was only familiar with one fellow nominee, Jessica Eaton, a forensic psychologist focusing on victim blaming.

Emma Humphreys was a writer, campaigner and survivor of male violence who successfully overturned a murder conviction in 1995, supported by Justice for Women and other feminist campaigners. She died in 1998 from an accidental overdose of prescribed medication.

The annual prize of £1,000 is awarded to an individual woman who has, through writing or campaigning, raised awareness of violence against women and children.

Sammy is campaigning for CSE victims to be pardoned for crimes committed under the grasp of groomers, as well as being involved in a number of other campaigns around education, counselling services, sex venue licensing laws, and compensation for survivors. 

Her campaign work has seen her appearing on national news channels and popular programmes such as Good Morning Britain and Loose Women in a bid to raise awareness of CSE.

The survivor estimated she had spoken at around 300 events since she waived her anonymity and - although now a more confident speaker - she said it could still be “difficult and draining”.

The mum said if she scooped the prize money, she would put it back into her self-funded work.

“It’s nice to be recognised for all the hard work and to feel appreciated,” said Sammy.