King’s Honours List 2025 — Women worth celebrating

With the release of the King’s Birthday Honours list on 13 June 2025, here are three women worth celebrating in the ongoing fight to prevent Violence Against Women and Girls.

Georgia Louise HARRISON, Campaigner.

Georgia Louise HARRISON, Campaigner.
(https://www.instagram.com/georgialouiseharrison/)

Georgia Harrison, television personality and campaigner, was awarded an MBE for services to Tackling Online Privacy and Cyber Crime Awareness.

Georgia rose to fame in 2014, appearing on The Only Way is Essex in 2014 and Love Island in 2017. However, the decision to waive her right to anonymity during a high-profile legal case marked a turning point for Georgia. The trial resulted in her former partner being jailed for distributing an intimate video of the pair online – footage which was filmed without her knowledge or consent.

She has since become a powerful voice in the fight against online abuse and has previously appeared on both ‘BBC 100 Women 2023’ list and ‘Independent Women 2024 - The Influence List’.

Georgia has played a key role in campaigning for legal reform in the UK. Perhaps most notably, she was involved in the development of the Online Safety Bill, and announcement of the Online Safety Act 2023, which recognises intimate image abuse as a priority offence.

Georgia continues to campaign for change. She has been involved in the Thames Valley Police campaign ‘Consent Conversations’, which aims to encourage people to talk about consent, as well as speaking at the Women and Equality Committee in May 2024 discussing non-consensual intimate image abuse.

Her advocacy also spans multiple media platforms, including an ITVX documentary ‘Georgia Harrison Porn. Power. Profit.’ which investigates the darker corners of the extensive online pornography industry, and a memoir of her personal journey titled ‘Taking Back my Power’.

Georgia uses her existing platform to drive change. She has transformed personal trauma into a national movement for justice, consent and online safety.

Nour Al-Houda Balich NORRIS, Campaigner.

Nour Al-Houda Balich NORRIS, Campaigner.
(https://www.securelife.org.uk/)

Campaigner Nour Al-Houda Balich Norris has been awarded an OBE for services to Preventing Violence Against Women and Girls.

Nour’s activism stems from inconceivable personal tragedy. In 2018, her niece Raneem Oudeh and sister Khaola Saleem were murdered by Raneem’s ex-partner. Raneem had contacted the police on several occasions regarding her ex-partner, and an inquiry into their deaths identified serious failings in the police response. Following this, Nour Norris has tirelessly campaigned against domestic abuse, and strived to improve the system set up to help victims.

SecureLife is an organisation founded by Nour which raises awareness of domestic abuse. Its mission is to ‘empower individuals and organisations to recognise, respond to, and prevent domestic abuse.’ Nour and a family member draw on their personal experience to deliver tailored training sessions to a wide variety of professionals including Police forces, social workers, businesses and counsellors.

Most significantly, Nour has been the lead campaigner for ‘Raneem’s Law’ – an initiative transforming the response of the UK’s emergency services to domestic abuse. The law has resulted in West Midlands Police, along with four other forces, having independent domestic abuse specialists placed across their 999 control rooms. These experts advise call handlers in real time and ensure appropriate follow-up and support. The initiative is expected to be rolled out to all 43 forces in England & Wales.

The pilot scheme also enhances existing powers of Domestic Abuse Protection Orders. Stronger enforcement mechanisms aim to ensure abusers stay away from their victims, and the Home Secretary has announced that breaching these new orders will become a specific criminal offence.

Nour’s work is saving lives. Her campaign has not only brought systemic failings into the public eye but is also laying the foundations for real, lasting change in how domestic abuse is prevented and responded to across the UK.

Margaret BLYTH, Chief Constable.

Margret Blyth, Chief Constable

(https://www.linkedin.com/in/maggie-blyth-81929624)

Chief Constable Margaret (Maggie) Blyth received The King’s Police Medal for Distinguished Service.

Maggie started her career in the Probation Service and has since held many roles specialising in youth justice both within the Police Service and local government roles. She currently holds two senior roles: Temporary Chief Constable of Gloucestershire Constabulary, and National lead on the policing response to Violence Against Women and Girls (VAWG).

The National Centre for VAWG and public protection sets out the framework to create a national approach to tackle VAWG, which has been classified as a National Threat. In order to do this Maggie is using the 4P approach, a model successfully implemented in counterterrorism approaches:

• Prepare – focuses on building ‘the right internal culture to address VAWG and misogyny.’
• Protect – ensuring ‘policing adopts a victim-centred approach.’
• Pursue – a focus on identifying and tackling perpetrators.
• Prevent – ensuring a ‘whole-system approach’ is adopted internally, as well as with partners

The National Centre, led by Maggie, has also adopted a Self-Assessment framework. This is used to provide a cohesive approach by all forces to support them to review and refresh their local VAWG action plans.

A VAWG Strategic Threat Risk Assessment is also produced, and The National Centre runs an annual conference on VAWG which brings together over 200 officers and police staff from across England and Wales to discuss strategies and challenges to tackle VAWG. In 2025 the UK government announced £13 million in funding for the National Centre.

Maggie’s work is bringing about systemic change. Her leadership is shaping a unified and proactive police response to VAWG and is driving the UK’s efforts to half halve its prevalence within a decade.

Final Thoughts

In a world that often feels full of harrowing accounts of Violence Against Women and Girls, it is a welcome relief to recognise meaningful systemic change is happening. The honours awarded to Georgia Harrison, Nour Norris and Maggie Blyth are a reminder that advocacy, lived experience and leadership can drive tangible progress.

But there is still more work to be done - and at Safely Home, we aim to play our part in making people feel safer, whenever you need us.