Dr Virginia Mantouvalou wins Provost’s Award for Public Engagement

Dr Virginia Mantouvalou, Reader in Human Rights and Labour Law, Director of Graduate Research Studies at UCL Faculty of Laws and Co-Director of UCL Institute of Human Rights, has won the Established Career Public Engager of the Year at the UCL Provost’s Awards for Public Engagement 2017, this year awarded on 22 February 2017.

The UCL Public Engagement Unit recognises the fantastic work that UCL’s staff and students do to ‘open up what happens at UCL, creating two-way conversations with the public’, through The Provost’s Awards for Public Engagement.

Dr Mantouvalou was nominated for her research and engagement work between 2015-2016 with Kalayaan, an NGO formed to campaign for the formal recognition of migrant domestic workers in the UK, where she is also a trustee. Kalayaan aims to challenge the mistreatment of migrant domestic workers, and to enforce their human and labour rights.

Dr Virginia Mantouvalou said:

‘The exploitation of migrant domestic workers is a pressing social issue, giving rise to several human rights violations, which I have been exploring in my research and teaching. Kalayaan are doing really important work in the field. My continuous collaboration with them provides me with important insights both for my research and teaching.’

Professor Richard Moorhead, Vice Dean (Research), Professor of Law and Professional Ethics, Chair of Law and Professional Ethics, said:

‘We are delighted that Virginia has won a Provost’s Public Engagement award. She is a model academic, leading research on modern slavery with great energy and commitment. Her achievement is truly well deserved.’

See Dr Mantouvalou’s most recent publication on domestic workers