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1S.
Derek Bowie (IFL)
Women in the forefront of the fight against cuts in education. mendations'.
Women have been-fighting for the right to organise autonomously in the colleges since the initiation of the campaign. Some of the stronger groups, such as Kent and the London School of Economics, have won this right in their individual unions. But the NUS constitution puts groups without a strong backing in a poor position threatened with loss of unions funds and facilities unless they open all their meetings to men.
We have argued that women can only combat their oppression through their own self-activity, and if they want to hold closed meetings, for consciousness-raising, health groups, etc., they should be supported rather than penalised by the students' union.
More and more women have realised the necessity of this demand, and conference resolved:
To campaign for the right of women, lesbians and gays and blacks to hold closed meetings if they feel the need without the loss of unions funds. on the understanding that it is only when women are able to organise independently within the student and labour movement that they are in a position to fight sexism, which divides these bodies, and so win these forces to the struggle for women's liberation.
Motions to this affect were tabled both by Brunel University and by the lesbian workshop. Because they face a double oppression, and are continually fighting to be recognised both by the women's and the gay rights' campaigns, lesbians have clearly seen an immediate need for autonomous organisation and have been at the forefront of the struggle. This year has begun well for the NUS women's campaign. The 300 women who attended the Bristol conference voted consistently for the democratic organisation of the campaign, and for the kind of policies that are needed to continue to challenge sexism in the colleges, and to mount a fightback against Labour's attacks on women. These decisions have no real status within the NUS - they simply 'advise' the broad-left dominated executive which was totally opposed to half the motions which were passed. But the level of militancy and the unity forged among the activists at the conference, will make it hard for the executive simply to ignore our recomLa week to week level. The idea of a in the campaign could be delegated network would represent both the tol centred on the composition and power of the network. The Broad Left argued that NUS Area Organisations should have delegates. But women who had experience of the undemocratically elected bureaucratic cliques which go under the name of Areas, argued that they should only have observer status until they had demonstrated their active support for the campaign.
be encouraged to set up women's into the smaller colleges.
The shallowness of the Broad Left's arguments was clear when they cited the London Student Organisation as a model area - it has had two meetings which no-one in the Student Women's Action Group (SWAG) heard about until after the event. SWAG has coordinfor over a year.
trol of the campaign have been the for both at a London and National Despite the militancy and the enthusiasn which has been characteristic of most NUS Women's Conferences, there have never been adequate structures for coordinating the women's groups and running the campaign at network for delegates from every college offers a solution: Women active by their students union, so that the women's groups and the broad studThe debate which arose at BrisConference agreed that Areas should sub-committees to take the campaign colleges.
ated London College women's groups the network Autonomy and democratic conmajor issues witch SWAG has fought W level. At Bristol, SWAG helped to clarify and unify those women who had been confused by the relationship between this type of organisaPolicy adopted by the conference included continued support for the NAC and the fight to force the TUC and Labour Party to implement their conference decisions on Free abortion on demand', and support for the Medical Committee Against Private Practice It also made a commitment to build for the Working Women's Charter's campaign aginst cuts.
Conference recognised the need to to unite with all those forces in the labour movement fighting unemployment, and to raise the particular problems facing women within that Entertainments — the favourite hunting ground of the right in the amendment banning sexist entertainments, advertising etc.has now been successfully moved by SWAG members at NUS conference in Scarborough. But women will have to remain vigilant to implement these decisions inside and outside their So the ground has been laid for the strengthening of the campaign against women's oppression. But all these issues have to be brought back to individual Student's Unions and women activists must be fighting for delegation from their union to WENDY FOREST and MELANIE SRASSNY - IMG members elected to the NUS Women's ad-hoe Advisory Committee.
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But we know that our struggle cannot be left to be decided in the Courts We are carrying out in practice our