Wellington teenager, Hope Cotton, was announced as the Inclusion winner of the GirlBoss Awards.

Hope, who is deaf, has been fighting for captioning standards in New Zealand media, after witnessing first-hand how she has been unable to get access to crucial information during the Covid-19 pandemic.

“Being Deaf and disabled, I face challenges every single day. During the covid lockdowns, I faced many challenges while working from home. I had difficulty communicating over virtual meeting platforms like Zoom, and most teachers were setting work using videos that were uncaptioned and inaccessible to me.”

The award coincides with the Accessibility for New Zealanders Bill, which is currently being debated in Parliament. Whilst this is a great first step, offering a Disability committee and recommendations, it falls short of providing recommendations enforceable by law, meaning that many disabled Kiwis feel left in the lurch.

“The government has ignored the needs of disabled people for far too long, and we will no longer stand for it.” says Hope.

Hope is one of 10 phenomenal young Kiwi women (aged between 11 and 18) who were recognised at the GirlBoss Awards last night.

Auckland teenager, Layba Zubair, was also recognised at the Award’s Ceremony for her tireless work knocking on the doors of parliament.

Layba, is the steadfast champion for a Proposed Consent Law Reform Bill, designed to overthrow our current consent laws and allow survivors to be better supported by the legal system. Over 12,000 people have signed her petition to support the bill, which has just been accepted on the steps of parliament by Minister Marama Davidson.

The award coincides with growing dissatisfaction amongst Generation Z around how the Justice system treats Sexual Violence Victims. Hundreds of Thousands of Teenagers across the globe, fueled by TikTok and Instagram campaigns, are standing up against their respective Governments’ “archaic” consent laws. In the past few weeks, Affirmative consent law bills have been successfully passed in New South Wales and Spain, and now New Zealand teens want similar law changes here.

“Currently, our consent laws are incredibly cryptic and outdated. New Zealand Legislature doesn't even have a definition of consent. The law only tells you when you can't give consent, but it doesn't tell you when you can. What this results in is abusers getting away with these crimes in court by pleading guilty on the grounds that they "believed consent was given" - this is something that is incredibly horrendous and needs to be changed.”, says Layba.

Layba, a survivor herself, was spurred to create change as a result of feeling failed by the justice system, “I felt like I had a choice. I could either walk away and do nothing, or I could use my anger and my pain to do something about it. I was so sick and tired of waiting for someone to change these laws for me, so I decided to do it myself.”

This year’s GirlBoss Award winners came from across New Zealand - from Dunedin, Wellington, Rotorua, Northland, Auckland, Waikato, and the Manawatu.

Each winner received a $1,000 cash grant and was celebrated at a glamorous gala at Auckland’s Northern Club on Wednesday (28th of September).

Alexia Hilbertidou, Founder of GirlBoss NZ, says, “We had over 450 nominations from Paihia to Invercargill, and it was extremely difficult for the judges to pick. The acceptance rate was under 5% - making The GirlBoss Awards the most competitive award scheme in the country. That’s a lower acceptance rate than Harvard University!”

“We must recognise the contribution of our young women and encourage them to keep striving and pushing for change, not only for themselves but for their community, country and the world.”

Seventeen-year-old Hope Cotton from Wellington received the Inclusion Award for her tireless work fighting for legislative change for around 880,000 Deaf and Hard of Hearing kiwis to have equitable access to media

Advocate Layba Zubair, (17), won the Wellbeing Award (sponsored by Xero). Layba is championing Her Consent Law Reform Bill, designed to overthrow our outdated consent laws and allow survivors to be supported by the legal system. Over 12,000 people, mostly youth, have signed her petition to support the bill.

Auckland-based Nuzhi Gardi (14) received the Emerging Leader Award (Sponsored by Delta Insurance) for her work creating safe and inclusive experiences for newly arrived refugees. From a refugee background herself, she has worked with The Empower Youth Trust to create over 20 events for refugee youth aged 11-16. She thoughtfully curates events that are both educational and fun and has helped hundreds of youth feel true belonging in their home of Aotearoa.

The Activator Award (sponsored by the Ministry for Primary Industries) went to 17-year-old Nora Paicu from Otago, who is the founder of The Misty Harbour Patch - a nursery where she teaches youth how to grow their love for and knowledge of gardening and animal raising.

The Sport Award (sponsored by ANZ) went to champion Touch Rugby and Hockey Player and New Zealand record holder in Triple Jump, Mary IIeremia-Allan (18), from Hamilton.

Community treasure Jasmine Yip (18), took home the Community Award (sponsored by Serato for her sustained support for International Students, STEM Education, and the local community in her hometown of Wellington.

Rotorua singer, Nikau Grace Chater (14), won the Arts & Culture Award sponsored by Grandkid Power. Nikau Grace Chater is a multi-award-winning performer working alongside Kiwi musical legend, Hollie Smith.

The STEM Award (sponsored by Orion and Connetics) went to Georgia Cruse (17) who hails from the town of Shannon, population 1500, in the Manawatu. Georgia is working alongside the council and using her architectural skills to design a replacement for Shannon’s historic, Albion Tavern, which burnt down.

Abby Armstrong-Green (17) from Northland received the Volunteering Award (sponsored by EcoCentral and Lyttelton Port Company) for her impressive community work, which includes volunteering over 500 hours for the Hospice, planting trees for the Local Nursery, and helping elderly residents with their house cleaning.

Lola Fisher (14) of Manawatu won the Innovation Award (sponsored by Spark). Lola founded Create Happy Magazine - an 80-page online magazine, reached by hundreds of kiwi youth each quarter. Create Happy magazine is designed to celebrate and inspire, and provides a platform for young emerging storytellers, journalists, poets, artists, and photographers. Lola leads 15 other youth contributors to the magazine to sets a hopeful tone for our nation.

Ms Hilbertidou is looking forward to following the journeys of the winners.

“What these young women have already achieved is remarkable. I cannot wait to see what they do next, and I know everyone involved is looking forward to celebrating their achievements.”

The 2022 GirlBoss Award winners

• Wellbeing Award - Layba Zubair from Auckland (17)
• STEM Award (Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics) - Georgia Cruse from Shannon (17)
• Emerging Leader Award - Nuzhin Gardi from Auckland (14)
• Community Award - Jasmin Yip from Wellington (18)
• Inclusion Award - Hope Cotton from Wellington (17)
• Arts & Culture Award - Nikau Grace Chater from Rotorua (14)
• Activator Award - Nora Paicu from Dunedin, Otago (17)
• Volunteering Award - Abby Armstrong Green from Northland (17)
• Sport Award - Mary Ieremia Allan from Hamilton (18)
• Innovation Award - Lola Fisher from Manawatu (14)

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