School of Law success at the Engaged for Impact Awards
The inaugural University of Leeds Research Culture and Engaged for Impact Awards were held on Tuesday 19 July 2022.
The Research Culture and Engaged for Impact Awards aim to recognise and reward teams and individuals who are committed to engagement for impact as part of their research, celebrate collaborative ways of working, promote and share innovative and high-quality research engagement approaches, and share challenges and successes to foster learning and inspire other researchers and professional staff.
Winners and runners-up were presented with their awards during a campus showcase, hosted by our Chancellor, Professor Dame Jane Francis, and Professor Nick Plant, Deputy Vice-Chancellor: Research and Innovation.
The School of Law is delighted that nominees from the School won and were runners up in the Engaged for Impact Awards category ‘making a positive difference to society’.
This award recognises engagement that leads, or may lead, to positive changes to society. It also includes engagement that prevents harm for groups within society. Working with communities and groups, this could involve activities that enable this positive difference to happen.
Winner
“Banning LGBTIQ+ “Conversion Therapy”: Engaging with Policy makers and LGBTIQ+ Organisations to Change UK Law”
Led by the School of Law’s Associate Professor in Human Rights Law Dr Ilias Trispiotis, with Dr Craig Purshouse and Elliot Ross.
This project aims to lead to a positive change for the equal rights and wellbeing of LGBTIQ+ people. It aims to lead to effective legal protection of LGBTIQ+ persons from the harms of ‘conversion therapy’. Working with policymakers and LGBTIQ+ organisations, this project involves engagement designed to enable this to happen.
The ‘Making a Positive Difference to Society’ award encapsulates the core aim of our project. Banning ‘conversion therapy’ in UK law is a vital step towards the eradication of an abusive and deeply inegalitarian practice. A legal ban can have great practical and expressive power for the victims and survivors of ‘conversion therapy’, and for LGBTIQ+ communities all over the world. Our team is delighted to be recognised for this ongoing work.
Runner Up
“Transforming the culture underpinning disabled children’s services: focussing on family support needs not parental failings.”
Led by the School of Law’s Chair in Law and Social Justice Professor Luke Clements and Research Assistant in Law & Social Justice Dr Ana Laura Aiello, with Beverley Hitchcock, David Laurence, Priya Bahri, Louise Arnold and Lucy Fullard.
Project summary: Many parents caring for disabled children in England who approach their local authority seeking support for their family’s disability related needs, express dismay with the way they are treated: dismay they articulate in the language of discrimination, blame and humiliation. There are about 1.1 million disabled children in the UK.
The research team, working with the BBC, many Independent Parent Carer Support groups, relevant NGOs and lawyers, identified the prevalence of such treatment, its causes and worked to effect positive change in the way English children’s services function.
We are delighted to have the Award, recognising as it does the tireless work of the organisations with whom we collaborate – not least Cerebra, The Disability Law Service, the Parent & Carer Alliance, and the BBC. We hope this Award will raise the profile of the programme and in so doing help us achieve real change for disabled children and their families.
Head of School Professor Louise Ellison said, “Many congratulations to Ilias, Luke and Ana and their teams for their well-deserved recognition in the 'Making a positive difference to society category'. I am incredibly proud of the School of Law‘s research community and the real-world difference our research makes”.
