It’s time to challenge Labour Students for control of the NUS women's campaign. For Sofie's manifesto, supporters' list and more on the campaign, see the ENS Women website.
Since the takeover of the NUS Women’s Campaign by Labour Students four years ago, the potential for student women’s organising to lead an active, political regeneration of the women’s movement has been squandered.
The campaign has the potential to reach out to thousands of women, as well as having relatively plentiful resources (staff support, a budget and a fully-paid officer) with which to build actions. However, the Labour women’s officers have been content to put the NUS Women’s Campaign logo on a few initiatives by others, and do precious little themselves.
The priorities of the campaign have looked good on paper — women at work, childcare and abortion rights — but in practice these have lead to little other than meetings with NGOs or TUC bureaucrats, and motions calling on the government to do something. In fact, the campaign committee actively voted against direct action on abortion rights, with Women’s Officer Kat Stark claiming the time “isn’t right” as a justification for her casting vote.
ENS Women have consistently opposed this inaction, and the political lethargy of the campaign, leading the way with events like Feminist Fightback and the torchlit march for abortion rights when our student leaders have refused to organise. With elections coming up, it’s time to challenge Labour Students for control of the campaign — ENS Women member and NUS Executive Officer Sofie Buckland is standing for National Women’s Officer as a socialist feminist candidate.
ENS Women stand for:
• A serious campaign to rebuild campaigning, political women’s groups on every campus
• Working with trade union women’s sections to organise a national demonstration for women’s liberation
• High profile campaigns, including direct action, on abortion rights and a living, equal wage
• Consistent international solidarity - with grassroots women’s, workers’ and student movements, not with NGOs and ‘progressive’ governments
• A Women’s Campaign that fights the Blairite leadership of NUS, and stands with workers and students fighting the Brown government.
If you want to see a Women’s Campaign that does all these things, whilst reinvigorating debate and democracy within the women’s movement, support Sofie! Get involved with the campaign — volsunga@gmail.com or 07815 490 837
