Little Black Book 2009-2010 - Cambridge University Students' Union

CUSU Little Black Book 2009 11Women’s UnionHello! I’m Natalie Szarek, the Women’sSabbatical Officer, which means thatI work full-time coordinating theWomen’s Union, running campaigns ongender issues which affect Cambridgewomen and providing individualsupport for students who self-define aswomen.I’ve recently graduated fromNewnham doing Social PoliticalSciences. Throughout my degree Iwas involved in the Women’s Unionand in Cambridge activism, includingfacilitating the Newnham FeministShebang, a gender discussion group.Like the Black Students’ Campaign,the Women’s Union is an ‘AutonomousCampaign’ of CUSU which means thatwe are funded, but not run, by CUSU.All women students are automaticallymembers and we are here to offersupport and representation; from whenyou come to Cambridge, to the timeyou leave.While there have been realimprovements in the way the universitytreats women over the past twentyyears, there are a lot of areas wherewe still need to work. Unfortunately,women still encounter discriminationin Britain (starting pay for graduates islower for women than for men) andface stereotypes, sexual harassmentand unfair treatment. There are alsoissues specific to Cambridge; women’ssports societies are often less wellfunded and supported than men’sand female students receive fewerfirsts than male students. Despite allthis, Cambridge women continue tomake invaluable contributions to theCambridge community in every spherepossible. The Women’s Union hopes tosupport and encourage women in theirtime at Cambridge, highlighting bothachievements and challenges.I hope to coordinate a lot withthe Black Students’ Campaign thisyear, recognizing that women havedifferent experiences based on race,ethnicity and religious and culturalbackground. I would like to emphasizethe needs of Muslim women, whichcolleges often fail to meet, and ensurethat black women’s experiences arenot marginalized. There is a Black andAsian Women’s Officer on the Women’sExecutive Committee who coordinatesevents and campaigns dealing withrace and gender. If you are interestedin running for this position or gettinginvolved in the Women’s Union, pleasecontact me at womens@cusu.cam.ac.ukor by phone on 01223 761694, and jointhe Women’s Bulletin email list.