Motion on the SRC Member for Women

The SRC notes: that the title of the SRC representative empowered to address issues pertaining to all genders, including women, is currently named SRC Member for Gender that within the remit of the SRC Member for Gender are issues pertaining predominantly to women, including but not restricted to rape awareness, gender violence, sexual health, womens inclusivity and equality on campus and beyond, direct action events such as 'Reclaim the Night' marches, and arts projects such as The Vagina Monologues that self-defining members of the female gender are facing greater structural obstacles in the society than the self-defining members of the male gender, as can be seen on the following examples: - women are being disproportionately affected by the budget cuts, as over 70% of the revenue raised through direct tax and benefit changes is to come from women1. This is due to women being the main recipients of support such as child benefits and tax credits, as well as being more heavily affected by things like housing benefit cuts and the changes to state pensions and public sector pensions - women comprise two thirds of the public sector workforce, as a result of which they bear the brunt of redundancies in this sector, projected as 610 000 job losses2 - there is a greater proportion of women enrolled in higher education courses that have lost their funding (arts, humanities and social sciences)3. Courses that are more likely to be studied by men (science, technology, engineering and mathematics) have had their funding protected. - women continue to earn less than men during their lives and female graduates earn less than male graduates.4 Women will take longer to pay off their graduate debt, resulting in greater total amount repaid, and up to 70-80% will not be able to repay their loans at all within thirty years of graduation5
1 Net revenue to be raised by the financial year 2014-2015. Source: Budget Gender Audit, July 2010: House of Commons Library 2 The Chartered Institute of Personnel and Development, October 2011: Public Sector Job Cuts Revisited 3 Equality Challenge Unit, 2010: Equality in Higher Education: Statistical Report 2010, p.86. 4 National Equality Panel, 2009. Differences in Labour Market Gains from Higher Education Participation, 25 September 2009. Available at: www.equalities.gov.uk/pdf/Variation%20in%20gains%20from%20university %20education.pdf 5 London Economics Consultancy, Million+, 2010. Fair, Progressive and Good Value? an assessment of the impact of the coalition governments proposals for the reform of higher education funding in England on graduates, the taxpayer and social mobility, p. 7. Available at:

- women are frequently subjected to sexual stereotyping and violence: every year, one million of women in the UK experience at least one incident of domestic violence6 - women are victimised in the society and placed into unsafe conditions for the sole reason of affiliation to the female gender (36% of people in the UK believe that a woman should be held wholly or partly responsible for being sexually assaulted or raped if she was drunk7) - both men and women are profoundly affected by the societys sexist and patriarchal norms, resulting in the normalisation of inequality and violence (1 in 2 boys and 1 in 3 girls believe that there are some circumstances when it is okay to hit a woman or force her to have sex)8 - that the struggle for women's liberation is an internationally recognized movement; and that a focus on womens issues is a priority at various other student representational bodies, such is the case of the NUS, running a Womens Campaign, and the Edinburgh University Students Association SRC, running a Womens Action Group

The SRC believes: - that renaming the position in question to SRC Member for Women would clarify the remit and focus of this position and would encourage the future holders of the position to engage with mentioned issues that the fight for womens rights, inclusivity and equality, especially in light of the budget cuts, the cuts to higher education funding and the public sector in general, is imminent and should be a key focus for the Students Association - that women face significant pressure to conform to societys sexist and patriarchal norms, placing them in a position of structural disadvantage and threat, which can only be altered once attitudes excusing and normalising violence, inequality and sexual and gender stereotyping are specifically targeted - that there remain a variety of support bodies within the University and the SA to address the issues of men and transgender persons, such as Student Support Services, the Sexual Health Clinic and the SRC Member for Sexualities/ LGBTQ Officer The SRC resolves
www.londecon.co.uk/le/publications/pdf/Fair%20Progressive%20and%20Good%20Value%20Final %20Report.pdf 6 Home Office, 2009. In: End Violence Against Women submission to the Leveson Inquiry, Jan 2012 7 Home Office, 2009. In: End Violence Against Women submission to the Leveson Inquiry, Jan 2012 8 Burton, S., Kitzinger, J. with Kelly, L. and Regan, L. (1998): Young People's Attitudes Toward Violence, Sex and Relationships. Zero Tolerance Charitable Trust

to change the name of the position of SRC Member for Gender to SRC Member for Women, entering in vigor for the newly elected candidate arising from the SA elections in March 2012, and to advertise the position under this name for the upcoming election candidates to keep the position of SRC Member for Women open for a candidate of any gender, be they a self-defining woman, man or a transgender person to prioritise womens liberation as a key focus for the Students Association, comprising of the struggle for womens inclusivity and equality on campus as well as in the wider society, the granting of safer spaces, a zero tolerance for gender violence, sexism and sexual objectification, and the fight against the cuts to higher education and public spending and their disproportionate impact on women

Proposed: Tamara Stupalova Seconded: Rob Grundy