21-year-old Amika George from Edgware, London, has become this year’s youngest awardee of the Queen’s Birthday Honours, receiving an MBE (Most Excellent Order of the British Empire) for services to education.
Amika’s work campaigning against period poverty helped persuade the UK government to offer period products for free at state-run schools and colleges.
She began her work at the age of 17, campaigning for access to period products like tampons which were unaffordable for many. She launched the #FreePeriods campaign, asking for those who receive free meals at school to also receive free sanitary products.
A survey had found that 42 per cent of 14-21 year olds in the UK had had to use makeshift sanitary products including socks, fabric and paper. In 2017, it was estimated that over 137,700 girls missed school because they could not afford sanitary products, on average missing five days a year.
When Amika found out she had been honoured with the MBE on the Prime Minister’s recommendation, she hesitated to accept it. She studied Indian colonial history and Britain's ties to the slave trade as part of her degree from Cambridge University. As she wrote in Vogue, “The word “empire” conjures horrific images of racist exploitation, economic extraction and a continuing legacy of global division-I couldn’t think of a more shameful word to permanently attach to my name.”
However, as she said she had a "a huge opportunity” in accepting the award to “draw attention to our lack of education around empire and Britain's history, but also to show other young people, particularly from the Asian community, who maybe don't feel very empowered politically, or don't feel seen.”
Amika has also published a book, Make it Happen: How to be an Activist, which she released virtually on January 21 this year. She was also featured by Instagram on International Women’s Day.
