Norah Al-Ani is a passionate agent of social change, founding member of the Cambridge Women’s Consortium, and Director of Cambridge Rape Crisis Centre.
Born in Kirkuk, Iraq, to an Iraqi father and Irish mother, Norah came to the UK as a youngster, and has lived in Cambridge since 1980. In 1989 she took a job at the Cambridge Women’s Resources Centre, initially working as a cleaner, later as receptionist, and ultimately, as Training Co-ordinator. By 1994, she had become Women’s Training Network Director for England.
In 2010 Norah was appointed Development Officer of Cambridge Rape Crisis Centre – or CRCC as it is more commonly known. Her impact was both immediate and far-reaching, and her efforts were rewarded by her appointment as Director of CRCC.
Since taking over the reins at CRCC, the organisation has expanded support and service provision enormously. By growing the Centre’s annual budget from around £50,000 in 2010, to almost a quarter of a million pounds today, Norah has been able to develop a range of wrap-around support services to survivors of rape, sexual abuse and sexual violence in Cambridgeshire.
In 2017, CRCC helpline volunteers answered over 1,000 calls, and their specialist counselling service provided one-to-one support for 470 clients. CCRC also employs their own Independent Sexual Violence Advocates, and a specialist Children and Young People’s Independent Sexual Violence Advocate, whose role is to help anyone who has suffered sexual violence to navigate the Criminal Justice System.
In 2015 Norah was a guest speaker at the Women of the World Festival in Cambridge. In 2016 she was a speaker at the Festival of Ideas. And in 2017 she was keynote speaker at the International Conference “Gender-Aware Sex and Relationship Education: Approaches To Tackle Gender-based Violence” - organised by Cambridge Centre for Social Innovation and the think-tank GenPol.
Anglia Ruskin University enjoys close ties with Norah. She is a regular guest lecturer to its Criminology students. She has participated in panel discussions, film screenings, Q&A sessions, and workshops for International Women’s Day, hosted at ARU. And last year she worked closely with one of Anglia Ruskin's third-year Criminology students, later applying findings from the project to enhance practice at CRCC. Norah has also been an enormously positive influence in the working group ‘Sexual Respect at ARU’.
Vice-Chancellor Professor Iain Martin said: “In light of the global ‘Me Too’ movement, and Cambridge University’s ‘Breaking the Silence’ campaign, our acknowledgement of Norah’s achievements sends out a strong public message that Anglia Ruskin University fully supports the outstanding work done by Norah and her colleagues at Cambridge Rape Crisis Centre.
“Norah is a tremendous advocate for women and girls - an inspiring figure wholly committed to creating a world free from sexual violence.”