In 2004, while writing for The Independent she co-authored a report with photojournalist Kate Holt on abuses by United Nations peacekeepers in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC).[6][7][8] It was one of several early case reports following more than 30 interviews with girls in a refugee camp in Bunia and one under the care of United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF), and other journalists subsequently followed with further similar reports.[7][9] Their work was described by Simon Cottle, professor of media and communication, as "journalism taking its responsibility to report seriously",[8] and earned them a place on the shortlist for an Amnesty International award in that year.[4] Their case reports included that of rape and abuse of children,[7][10][11] and the exchange of sex-for-food.[7][12] It led to an investigation of MONUC (a United Nations mission in the DRC), by the UN's Office of Internal Oversight.[13]
Later career
The Guardian Building, London
Hughes later specialised in journalism pertaining to television and entertainment, becoming known to her readers by the pseudonym 'Lady Sarah'.[1][4][14] She published regular reviews on television series including Line of Duty,[4][15]Peaky Blinders[16] and Indian Summers,[17] and contributed to The Guardian’s regular blog on Game of Thrones.[18][19]
Some of her articles focused on her personal experiences, including the births of her stillborns and her diagnosis of breast cancer.[22] In 2020, during the COVID-19 pandemic in the United Kingdom, she published a series of articles for The Observer reporting regularly on life during lockdown after being told that her breast cancer had now advanced .[4][23] These included her account of March 2020, of the interruption and delay in her cancer care, and being informed that should she contract COVID-19, she would not receive an intensive care bed.[24] Her account in November 2020, included her fear of "missing out as life ticks away, the challenges of accessing treatment, and fears about cancer research funding".[25]
Personal and family
Hughes married Kris with whom she had two children.[2] Two of her later pregnancies had ended in stillbirths.[2][3] Hughes was the best friend of the novelist Harriet Tyce.[23]
Sarah Hughes Lectureship delivered by Jed Mercurio and Victoria MacDonald (2021)
Hughes died at home from breast cancer at the age of 48 on 5 April 2021, a day after her last article was published.[2][23] Iris, one of her stillbirths, was buried with her.[26]
She is survived by her husband and two children.[4] Her death was reported in The Guardian,[4] in which tributes were paid by its editor-in-chief Katharine Viner,[4]The Observer's editor Paul Webster,[4] and writers Jed Mercurio[4] and Sarah Phelps.[4]
The Sarah Hughes Memorial Lecture at the Royal Society of Medicine, is named for her.[27][28] The inaugural lecture was delivered in December 2021 by Mercurio, as a conversation with health and social care editor at Channel 4 News, Victoria MacDonald.[27][29] A collection of her essays, Holding Tight, Letting Go, was published posthumously in 2022.[30] It includes chapters by Tyce and Tilly Bagshawe, and ends with a note from her husband.[31]
Selected publications
"Sex and death in the heart of Africa". The Independent. 25 May 2004. Archived from the original on 6 April 2021. Retrieved 6 April 2021. (Co-authored with Kate Holt)
"SA troops 'raped kids in DRC'". Pretoria News. 12 July 2004. (Co-authored with Kate Holt)
Hughes, Sean P. F.; Hughes, Sarah (2017). "Keats Memorial Lecture: How did John Keats's Medical Training Influence his Poetry?". The Keats-Shelley Review. 31 (2): 136–146. doi:10.1080/09524142.2017.1369304. S2CID 165599138. (Co-authored with S. P. F. Hughes)
"Game of Thrones, cancer and me…". The Guardian. 7 April 2019. Archived from the original on 7 April 2021. Retrieved 7 April 2021.
"If I get the virus, the NHS can't save me. That's why isolation is a matter of life and death". The Guardian. 29 March 2020. Archived from the original on 9 April 2021. Retrieved 9 April 2021.
"'Find a part of each day to relish': coping with cancer and Covid". The Guardian. 15 November 2020. Archived from the original on 15 November 2020. Retrieved 11 April 2021.
References
^ a b cAbbott, Kate (6 April 2021). "'My TV bellwether, my wonderful friend': a tribute to Sarah Hughes". The Guardian. Archived from the original on 6 April 2021. Retrieved 6 April 2021.
^ a b c d e f g h i j kMesure, Susie (10 April 2021). "Obituary: Sarah Hughes, a journalist whose wit and passion electrified everything she wrote". inews.co.uk. Retrieved 10 April 2021.
^ a bHughes, Sarah (22 January 2012). "The child I lost". The Guardian. Archived from the original on 6 April 2021. Retrieved 10 April 2021.
^ a b c d e f g h i j k lQuinn, Ben (6 April 2021). "'Brilliant and versatile' Observer and Guardian journalist Sarah Hughes dies at 48". The Guardian. Archived from the original on 6 April 2021. Retrieved 6 April 2021.
^ a b"M.E.N. journalists win top awards". Manchester Evening News. 10 August 2004. Archived from the original on 30 October 2020. Retrieved 10 April 2021.
^Westendorf, Jasmine-Kim; Searle, Louise (1 March 2017). "Sexual exploitation and abuse in peace operations: trends, policy responses and future directions". International Affairs. 93 (2): 365–387. doi:10.1093/ia/iix001. ISSN 0020-5850.
^ a b c dNieuwenhuizen, Romy (2013) "Who will guard the guardians? Sexual exploitation and abuse by peacekeepers: Focus on the Democratic Republic of the Congo". Victomology and Criminal Justice 17
^ a bCottle, Simon (2017). "24. Communications, human insecurity and the responsibility to protect". In Robinson, Piers; Seib, Philip; Frohlich, Romy (eds.). Routledge Handbook of Media, Conflict and Security. Abingdon, Oxon: Taylor & Francis. pp. 329–330. ISBN 978-0-415-71291-0.
^Allen, Pamela Cartier (2011). "Beggars Can't Be Choosers or the Refugee as a Moral Agent?". (Doctoral dissertation, Duquesne University). Chapter 4. The missing discourse. P. 276.
^Defeis, Elizabeth F. (2008). "U.N. Peacekeepers and Sexual Abuse and Exploitation: An End to Impunity". Washington University Global Studies Law Review. 7 (2): 189.
^Akonor, Kwame (2016). "3. The dark side of UN peacekeeping: abuses and violations". UN Peacekeeping in Africa: A Critical Examination and Recommendations for Improvement. South Orange, NJ: Springer. p. 38. ISBN 978-3-319-39160-1.
^Davies, Sara E.; True, Jacqui (2019). The Oxford Handbook of Women, Peace, and Security. Oxford University Press. pp. 227–234. ISBN 978-0-19-063827-6.
^Spencer, Sarah W. (2005). “Making Peace: Preventing and Responding to Sexual Exploitation by United Nations Peacekeepers.”. Journal of Public and International Affairs. Vol. 16, pp. 166–79.
^ a bGuyoncourt, Sally (6 April 2021). "'Brilliant and prolific' journalist Sarah Hughes dies from cancer". inews.co.uk. Archived from the original on 7 April 2021. Retrieved 7 April 2021.
^Moses, Toby (11 April 2021). "Line of Duty series six episode four – open thread". The Guardian. Archived from the original on 12 April 2021. Retrieved 13 April 2021.
^"Peaky Blinders: 'Gloomy' finale wins over critics (just)". BBC News. 23 September 2019. Archived from the original on 9 April 2021. Retrieved 9 April 2021.
^"Indian Summers finale: it 'never really made sense'". The Week UK. 16 May 2016. Archived from the original on 7 April 2021. Retrieved 7 April 2021.
^"Sarah Hughes". Festival Séries Mania. Archived from the original on 6 April 2021. Retrieved 6 April 2021.
^Sternberg, Zara (27 November 2020). "The Woman With Breast Cancer Who's Determined to Survive to Watch "Game of Thrones"". SurvivorNet. Archived from the original on 6 April 2021. Retrieved 6 April 2021.
^Hughes, Sarah. "Books in the Media". booksinthemedia.thebookseller.com. Retrieved 7 April 2021.
^Ghosh, Hrileena (2020). "Introduction". John Keats' Medical Notebook: Text, Context, and Poems. Liverpool: Liverpool University Press. pp. 6–7. ISBN 978-1-78962-061-0.
^Bachelor, Lisa (11 April 2021). "Sarah Hughes: Clever, brave, bold, funny – my unforgettable friend". The Guardian. Archived from the original on 12 April 2021. Retrieved 13 April 2021.
^ a b cBachelor, Lisa (11 April 2021). "'We want to keep her name alive': charitable trust for Sarah Hughes". The Guardian. Archived from the original on 11 April 2021. Retrieved 12 April 2021.
^Greco, Cinzia; Arteaga, Ignacia; Fabian-Therond, Clara; Llewellyn, Henry; Swallow, Julia; Viney, William (27 November 2020). "Cancer, COVID-19, and the need for critique". Wellcome Open Research. 5: 280. doi:10.12688/wellcomeopenres.16404.1. ISSN 2398-502X. PMC 7839273. PMID 33521331.
^"The #IAmThe31 Campaign by @METUPUKorg, mentioned by @SarahJPHughes in @Guardian". MET UP UK - #BusyLivingWithMets. 15 November 2020. Archived from the original on 12 February 2021. Retrieved 11 April 2021.
^Glynn, Kris (20 April 2021). "My wife never sugar-coated things for our children". The Times. Archived from the original on 15 May 2021. Retrieved 15 May 2021.
^ a bMahase, Elisabeth (10 December 2021). "Calling out liars: five minutes with . . . Jed Mercurio". BMJ. 375: n3065. doi:10.1136/bmj.n3065. ISSN 1756-1833. PMID 34893479. S2CID 245013927.
^"Sarah Hughes Memorial Lecture". www.rsm.ac.uk. Archived from the original on 6 December 2021. Retrieved 6 December 2021.
^Thorpe, Vanessa (28 November 2021). "Screenwriter Jed Mercurio to speak at inaugural Sarah Hughes lecture". The Guardian. Archived from the original on 6 December 2021. Retrieved 6 December 2021.
^Anderson, Hephzibah (27 March 2022). "Holding Tight, Letting Go by Sarah Hughes review – lessons from a life well lived". The Guardian. Archived from the original on 2 April 2022. Retrieved 2 April 2022.
^Smith, Gwendolyn (31 March 2022). "Holding Tight, Letting Go by Sarah Hughes is crammed with wit, love and joie de vivre". inews.co.uk. Retrieved 13 June 2022.