| Women's Network Day |
| 05/11/2004 |
Women’s Network DayThe Women’s Campaign held a Network Day at BUGS (Birmingham University Guild of Students) on Friday 22 October and I thought I’d do a brief report on what happened. As advertised before the event, we had three guest speakers - Mary Turner, President of the GMB; Helen Wollaston, Campaigns Director at the Equal Opportunities Commission; and Lucy Russell, Policy Officer at the YWCA. Got a job? Join a union! Mary Turner opened the event, and gave a wonderful talk about life as a trade union member and activist, and highlighted some of the campaigns the GMB have run. She also talked about being a woman in a male-dominated environment and how it is possible for women to succeed and reach the top, difficult though it may be. She also touched on some social issues, such anti-racism and the need to defeat the BNP, as well as other campaigns she (and the GMB) have promoted, such as Violence against Women and the gender pay gap. A woman’s place … Our second speaker was Helen Wollaston who spoke about the EOC’s recent “know your place campaign”, which we have actively supported. The campaign is designed to encourage women to enter non-traditional fields such as plumbing, construction, IT, etc. We had a lot of discussion about gender stereotyping and gender segregation, and the different ways in which Students’ Unions can get involved in this campaign and campaigns like it. Gender segregation was discussed as part of the main motion at Women’s Conference 04, and formed the basis of our “A Woman’s Place” priority campaign this year. If anyone wants any more information on gender segregation and the different ways in which they can campaign against this, then please get in touch! RESPECT Young Mums Our final speaker was Lucy Russell from YWCA, a young women’s charity that supports and campaigns on behalf of young women, particularly those from disadvantaged areas. The RESPECT Young Mums campaign is a campaign that we are actively supporting, and have distributed information about it to our SU members. The campaign aims to highlight the disadvantage and discrimination that young mums face, and proposes several solutions to create a better life for young mums and their children. Encouraging healthy debate In addition to our guest speakers, we also provided space for discussion about our two priority campaigns (“A Woman’s Place” and “Pro-Choice and Proud of it”) and how Women's Officers and women’s groups can run the campaigns in their unions. The ideas and suggestions that came out of the workshops were fantastic, and I’m sure that we’re going to have a vibrant and active year ahead of us! Thank you to… I’d like to thank the NUS staff who organised and facilitated the event, Mary, Helen and Lucy for delivering amazing and inspirational presentations, and all the delegates who attended for participating and giving us the feedback we need to make our campaigns a success! If you want more information about our work this year, or the organisations and campaigns we are supporting, then please get in touch! Useful websites
Til the next time, Jo Salmon The Blogs on this site represent the individual views of their authors and do not necessarily reflect the policies or practices of the National Union of Students. All links in blogs will open in a new browser window. The permanent URL for this specific blog entry is: http://www.officeronline.co.uk/blogs/josalmon/270045.aspx |
