Helen Celia Bayes (born 29 June 1944 in

Sale, Greater Manchester Sale is a town in Trafford, Greater Manchester, England, in the historic county of Cheshire on the south bank of the River Mersey, south of Stretford, northeast of Altrincham, and southwest of Manchester. In 2011, it had a population of 134 ...

) is an English-born activist who won the

Australia Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a Sovereign state, sovereign country comprising the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous List of islands of Australia, sma ...

Human Rights Medal The Human Rights Awards are a series of awards for achievements in the field of human rights in Australia, bestowed by the Australian Human Rights Commission at the Human Rights Day Ceremony in December in each year. History The Human Rights Awa ...

in 1999.

Early life

Bayes was born into a

Quaker Quakers are people who belong to a historically Protestant Christian set of Christian denomination, denominations known formally as the Religious Society of Friends. Members of these movements ("theFriends") are generally united by a belie ...

family in Northern England and migrated to Australia in 1966, at the age of 22. She has four adult children and eight grandchildren. She holds a BA in Social Work and BA (Hons) in Social Administration, and had a 15-year career in the National and State Public Service in the areas of Social Policy and Community Services.

Human rights activism

Two decades ago, Bayes resigned from the Public Service and set up an international child rights advocacy NGO called the Australian Section of

Defence for Children International Defence for Children International (DCI) is an independent non-governmental organisation set up in 1979, during the International Year of the Child, to ensure on-going, practical, systematic and concerted international and national action special ...

. She has served that organisation in Australia, in Geneva, and on the International Council. She was awarded the Australian Human Rights Medal for this work in 1999.

Quakers

Bayes' concern for the rights of children grew into a fascination with early Quakerism. As Eva Koch Fellow at the

Woodbrooke Quaker Study Centre Woodbrooke Study Centre is a Quaker Quakers are people who belong to a historically Protestant Christian set of Christian denomination, denominations known formally as the Religious Society of Friends. Members of these movements ("theFr ...

, she researched the views of the earliest Quakers on the nurturing and guidance of children and young people. She was the James Backhouse Lecturer in 2003 (the Australian equivalent of the SP Gardner Lecture), entitled ''Respecting the Rights of Children and Young People: A New Perspective on Quaker Faith and Practice''. (nb the report on 2003 activities was published in 2004, so "last year" meant 2003)

Bibliography

*
Prophetic Community
by Helen Bayes, Canadian Quaker Pamphlet No. 69, Argenta Friends Press; a lecture to the Canadian Religious Society of Friends (2009 Sunderland P. Gardner Lecture).
Proud Stubborn and Free: The earliest Quakers and their children
Woodbrooke Journal Essay, Winter 2003

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Bayes, Helen 1944 births Living people Australian Quakers English human rights activists Women human rights activists People from Sale, Greater Manchester