Lesley Elliott (campaigner)

Lesley Frances Elliott is a New Zealand nurse who is the founder and chairperson of the Sophie Elliott Foundation, an organisation that educates New Zealanders on the signs of abuse in personal relationships. She was moved to start the work after her daughter Sophie was killed by her former boyfriend in January 2008. She realised that she had been unaware that he was abusive, but that it was possible to identify the signs. In 2019, she closed the Sophie Elliott Foundation as her Parkinson's disease was preventing her from continuing to run the foundation and she does not want another person to control her daughter's image.
Recognition.
In 2014, Elliott won the Supreme Award at the New Zealand Women of Influence Awards. She has also won a Paul Harris Fellowship from Rotary International and the Next Woman of the Year title. In the 2015 Queen's Birthday Honours she was appointed a Member of the New Zealand Order of Merit for services to the prevention of domestic violence.