The award was set up in 2001 and aims to reward and celebrate a theatre company whose production makes a significant contribution to the public's greater awareness and understanding of human rights issues.

It is open to all companies participating in the Fringe and Edinburgh Festivals. A high-profile judging panel choose a winner out of a short-list compiled by Amnesty International Scotland staff in close contact with the expert judges. Last year's winner, The Exonerated, another verbatim piece, went on to a successful London transfer.

Unprotected was commissioned by the Everyman and Playhouse in response to the murders of Hanane Parry and Pauline Stephen, and the proposal for a managed zone for street sex workers in Liverpool which followed. The production is dedicated to their memory, and to that of Anne-Marie Foy, who lost her life while the play was in development.

Unprotected was also shortlisted for The Carol Tambor Edinburgh to New York Award’ alongside Strawberries in January, Goodness, Hysteria, and Knots.