Secularist of the Year

Irwin Prize

The Secularist of the Year poster used at the award ceremony

Location| London
Country| United Kingdom
Presented by| National Secular Society
Reward(s)| £5000
First awarded| 2005
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]

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]

## Contents

* 1 List of recipients
* 2 See also
* 3 Notes
* 4 References

## List of recipients

Year  | Portrait  | Name  | Citation[1] | Presenter  | Ref.

|
|
|
|
|

2005  |  | Maryam Namazie | For "her work in defence of women's rights and the right to freedom of expression"  | Polly Toynbee | [2]
2006  |  | Steve Jones | For "his contribution to the promotion of secularism"  | Dick Taverne | [3]
2007  |  | Mina Ahadi | For "her life opposing the mistreatment of women by the Iranian clerical regime"  | Joan Smith | [4]
2008  | Z Not awarded

2009  |  | Eric Lubbock | For "their work in the abolition of blasphemy law"  | Richard Dawkins | [5][6]
| 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 | For "her work as chair of the European Parliamentary Platform for Secularism in Politic"  | A. C. Grayling | [8]
2012  |  | 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  |  | 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[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 | 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

* List of religion-related awards

## 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]

## References

1. ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 "Secularist of the Year Winners". National Secular Society. https://www.secularism.org.uk/soty.html.
2. ↑ "Maryam Namazie Named 'Secularist of The Year'". National Secular Society. 12 October 2005. http://www.secularism.org.uk/maryamnamazienamedsecularistofth.html.
3. ↑ "Professor Steve Jones is Named 'Secularist of The Year'". National Secular Society. 9 October 2006. http://www.secularism.org.uk/professorstevejonesisnamedsecula.html.
4. ↑ "Iranian Dissident Wins Secularist of The Year Prize". National Secular Society. 21 October 2007. http://www.secularism.org.uk/iraniandissidentwinssecularistof.html. Retrieved 18 March 2012.
5. ↑ "Oxford MP is Given Secular Award". BBC News. 8 February 2009. http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/england/oxfordshire/7877616.stm.
6. ↑ "Evan Harris MP and Lord Avebury Win the National Secular Society's Annual Award for Secularist of the Year". National Secular Society. 7 February 2009. http://www.secularism.org.uk/evan-harris-mp-and-lord-avebury-.html.
7. ↑ 7.0 7.1 "Secularist of the Year prize Awarded to Southall Black Sisters". National Secular Society. 14 February 2010. http://www.secularism.org.uk/secularist-of-the-year-prize-awa.html.
8. ↑ "Dutch MEP Wins Secularist of the Year". National Secular Society. 19 March 2011. http://www.secularism.org.uk/dutch-mep-wins-secularist-of-the.html.
9. ↑ "Peter Tatchell named Secularist of the Year". National Secular Society. 17 March 2012. http://www.secularism.org.uk/news/2012/03/peter-tatchell-named-secularist-of-the-year.
10. ↑ 10.0 10.1 "Secularist of the Year Prize Fund Donated to Girls' Education in Honour of Malala Yousafzai". National Secular Society. 23 March 2013. http://www.secularism.org.uk/news/2013/03/secularist-of-the-year-prize-fund-donated-to-girls-education-in-honour-of-malala-yousafzai.
11. ↑ "Secularist of the Year awarded to Turkish MP, Safak Pavey". National Secular Society. 29 March 2014. http://www.secularism.org.uk/news/2014/03/secularist-of-the-year-awarded-to-turkish-mp-safak-pavey.
12. ↑ 12.0 12.1 "Charlie Hebdo Staff Awarded Secularist of the Year Prize for Their Response to Paris Attacks". National Secular Society. 28 March 2015. http://www.secularism.org.uk/news/2015/03/charlie-hebdo-staff-awarded-secularist-of-the-year-prize-for-their-response-to-paris-attacks.
13. ↑ 13.0 13.1 "Educate Together awarded 'Secularist of the Year' prize". National Secular Society. 19 March 2016. http://www.secularism.org.uk/news/2016/03/educate-together-awarded-secularist-of-the-year-prize.
14. ↑ "Yasmin Rehman named Secularist of the Year 2017" (in en-GB). National Secular Society. 18 March 2017. http://www.secularism.org.uk/news/2017/03/yasmin-rehman-named-secularist-of-the-year-2017.
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. https://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/home-news/secularist-year-award-vicar-graham-sawyer-church-england-sexual-abuse-expose-campaign-a8266956.html. Retrieved 25 March 2018.
16. ↑ "NSS names Phil Johnson and Graham Sawyer as Secularists of the Year". London: National Secular Society. 24 Mar 2018. https://www.secularism.org.uk/news/2018/03/nss-names-phil-johnson-and-graham-sawyer-as-secularists-of-the-year.
17. ↑ "Lawyer who defended Asia Bibi named Secularist of the Year". National Secular Society. 18 May 2019. https://www.secularism.org.uk/news/2019/05/lawyer-who-defended-asia-bibi-named-secularist-of-the-year/.
18. ↑ Duke, Barry (21 May 2019). "Pakistan lawyer is named Secularist of the Year by NSS". The Freethinker (Patheos). https://www.patheos.com/blogs/thefreethinker/2019/05/pakistan-lawyer-is-named-secularist-of-the-year-by-nss/.

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