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101 reasons for liberation in your students’ union
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For statistical references please go to: www.officeronline.co.uk
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101 reasons for liberation
Liberation Liberation from discrimination is something that millions of students across Britain are still fighting for. Oppression for students today can mean anything from name-calling to violent attacks and death. Your students’ union has a responsibility to represent these groups of students, campaign for their equality, celebrate their diversity, and ensure that your college or university exercises zero tolerance of discrimination! Here are 101 reasons why every Union needs a Black Students’ Officer, a Disabled Students’ Officer, an LGBT Officer, and a Women’s Officer!
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101 reasons for liberation
General 1.
Discrimination still exists for Black students, minority ethnic students, LGBT students, disabled students and women students
2.
If you add up all the Black, disabled, LGBT and women students, they are s almost certainly the majority of students at your institution!
3.
Liberation officers run lots of cool initiatives like campaigns, events, fundraisers, club nights, plays and much, much more for your students!
4.
Nationally, your students can be better represented
5.
Your students’ union can remain at the cutting edge of campaigns for equality in education
6.
Having Liberation Officers mean that Black, disabled, LGBT, and women students are represented within your union – every year – not just when a Black, disabled, LGBT or woman student happens to be elected
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women students
Women students 7.
It will take women significantly longer to pay back their student debts than men (because of the pay gap, maternity leave, etc)
8.
On average, women are paid 17% less than men in full time work, and 38% less in part time work
9.
1 in 4 women experience domestic violence
10. Women make up under 20% of British MPs in Parliament today 11. 70% of the world’s poor are women 12. Only 11.1% of university vice chancellors are women 13. Less than 30% of college principals are women 14. 2 women are murdered every week in Britain by their current or former partner 15. Women own less than 1% of the world’s property 16. Only 49% of disabled women are in work
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women students
17. Two-thirds of the world’s illiterate people are women 18. A plane load of women die each week as a result of unsafe abortions in the world 19. More than 90% of hairdressing apprentices are women, whereas over 90% of construction, motor and plumbing apprentices are men 20. 16% of women experience stalking in their lives 21. 1 in 10 senior police officers are women 22. On average, a woman victim of domestic violence has 11 contacts with support agencies before she gets the help she needs – this rises to 17 if she is Black 23. At the current rate it will take 200 years before there is gender equality in Parliament 24. Women’s Officers run awesome events like the Vagina Monologues, International Women’s Week, and campaigns against rape and violence on campus 25. Women are far less likely to be students’ union presidents than men
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women students
26. Women’s bodies are used to sell everything from soap bars to cars 27. Today, women are still being excluded from schools, colleges and universities for getting pregnant 28. 42% of women homicide victims (compared to 4% of men) were killed by a current or former male partner in 2001 29. There are only 2 Black women MPs in Parliament – and 13 men
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black students
Black students 30. There are only 15 Black MPs in Parliament, but if the numbers of MPs reflected the amount of Black people in Britain today, there would be 55 MPs 31. Black students face discrimination throughout education: despite higher achievements on entry, they leave school with lower grades and are more likely to be excluded. They face discrimination in admissions to elite universities and are awarded lower marks where anonymous marking is not implemented 32. Research by the DfES found that Black students are less likely to get a first class degree when all other factors are equal. Discrimination is rife in education 33. Research has also found that more AfricanCaribbean students study at one university – London Metropolitan – than the top 19 institutions combined
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black students
34. Annual top-up fees of ÂŁ3,000 introduced in 2006, burden Black students with decades of debt as Black graduates are 4 times more likely to be unemployed than white graduates so get saddled with debts for longer 35. The number of pupils excluded on the grounds of racist bullying has risen by 29% between since 2004 36. African-Caribbean boys are 3 times more likely to be permanently excluded from school, than white children for misdemeanours of similar severity 37. Black children are 5 times less likely to be considered ‘gifted or talented’ compared to white children 38. Black communities are 3 times more likely to become statutorily homeless than the majority white population 39. African-Caribbean people are 14 times more likely, and Asians 6 times more likely, to be stopped and searched by police than white people
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black students
40. In 2004/05 there were approximately 179,000 racially motivated crimes. Since 1999, after the Stephen Lawrence Report, racially motivated crimes have steadily risen 41. Almost 10% of mental health inpatients are AfricanCaribbean or mixed-race, despite making up only 3% of the general population 42. Black people are up to 44% more likely to be detained under the Mental Health Act but are less likely to be referred by their GP than white people, a significantly high percentage instead get referred through the Criminal Justice System 43. In 2004, Black workers earned an average of ÂŁ7.50 per hour, compared with ÂŁ8.00 per hour for workers from white backgrounds. This gap has been increasing since 1998 44. Within six months of graduation Black people are three times more likely to be unemployed than white graduates
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black students
45. Within 5 years of leaving college Black students can expect to be earning 9% less than their white peers for the same standard of work 46. 18% of men and 15% of women graduates who are Muslim are unemployed – this is 2 times the rate of their Christian and Jewish, without religious conviction counterparts 47. 75% of the Black community live in 88 of the poorest boroughs across Britain 48. Job applicants with an African name are 25% less likely, while those with a Muslim name are 18% less likely, to get an interview than those with a British sounding name 49. There are no Black women police chief constables and there are no Black women judges in the House of Lords or Courts of Appeal. 50. Babies born to immigrant Pakistani mothers in Britain are more than twice as likely to die in their first week as the babies of British-born mothers
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black students
51. Rates of suicide among young South Asian women are double that of the general population 52. On average, Pakistani and Bangladeshi women earn only 56% of the average hourly wage of white men 53. Less than 1% of college principals are Black and there is only 1 Black university pro- vice chancellor 54. Black staff are more likely to be cleaners than lecturers at universities and colleges
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disabled students
Disabled students 55. In further education, at least 6% of students declare a disability on enrollment 56. In higher education, at least 4% of students declare a disability on enrollment 57. In 1994, China introduced a law designed to eliminate ‘inferior births’ and heighten the standards of the whole population through enforced sterilization of disabled people and compulsory abortion of disabled fetuses 58. Only 1 in 20 disabled people are in FE or HE, compared to 1 in 10 for the rest of the population 59. 1 in 5 disabled people in FE and HE feel that they are directly discriminated against because of their disability 60. One third of disabled people do not feel they can enter education because of their disability
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disabled students
61. 27% of disabled people have no qualifications at all compared to 12% of the rest of the population 62. There are 7 million disabled people in Britain 63. Only about half of disabled people in Britain work, compared to 80% of the rest of the population 64. Only 1 in 5 people with mental health problems work in Britain 65. Disabled employees are paid an average of ÂŁ1.50 less per hour than their non-disabled counterparts 66. Disabled students are 10 times more likely to be the victim of bullying than their non-disabled counterparts 67. Disabled people are ten times more likely to be victims of sexual abuse 68. 85% of disabled people surveyed in Britain feel they are treated as second class citizens 69. 1 in 3 families with Black disabled children have severe problems with their housing, compared to one in five families with white disabled children
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disabled students
70. Disabled women are 3 times less likely to work than disabled men 71. Dyslexic students make up 43% of the disabled students in Britain 72. HIV is defined as a disability under the Disability Discrimination Act 1995 73. In 2005 2.4 million adults and children in subSaharan Africa died of HIV. Over 2 million of these deaths was preventable through anti-retroviral drugs and the widespread condom availability 74. In 1997 less than half of polling booths in Britain were accessible meaning that many disabled people were simply unable to vote 75. Even though it’s against the law, lots of colleges, universities, and students’ unions are not fully accessible to disabled people 76. Disabled people are denied adequate sex education – disability and sex remain a taboo and not talked about
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lgbt students
LGBT students 77. In a recent study, 72% of young lesbians and gay men indicated that they had either played truant or feigned illness to avoid homophobic abuse at school 78. LGBT pupils are more likely to leave school at 16 and not reach FE or HE (regardless of their achievements at school). 2 in 5 say they fear bullying will continue if they stay on 79. In a survey of 4000 Lesbian, Gay and Bisexual people, 48% of respondents under 18 had experienced violence because of their sexuality and 90% had experienced verbal bullying 80. 24% of lesbians (1 in 4) have suffered homophobic violence 81. In a recent study from Scotland, 68% of respondents said that they had been verbally abused or threatened by someone who has assumed they are LGBT
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lgbt students
82. Only 6% of British schools have a homophobic bullying policy, despite homophobic bullying being endemic in schools 83. Gay and bisexual men or any person who has had sex with a gay or bisexual man cannot donate blood to the National Blood Service 84. Same-sex sexual activities for men are explicitly illegal in more than 80 states around the world, and for women in more than 40 states 85. 35% of lesbian and bisexual women in a survey of 1100 LGBT people said they had attempted suicide (the average age for the first attempt was 18 years old) 86. According to recent figures, 1 in 5 young LGB people try to commit suicide 87. 4 in 5 secondary school teachers say they are aware of verbal homophobic bullying in schools 88. Waiting times of ten years are not uncommon for trans people wishing to access surgery or other treatments on the NHS
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lgbt students
89. Many colleges and universities still refuse to re-issue degree certificates for graduates who have changed gender roles. Such refusals mean that trans people may have to apply for jobs with employers who are going to ask to see their certificates, or force them to disclose their medical history during application 90. It wasn’t until 1992 that the World Health Organisation removed homosexuality from its list of mental disorders 91. Up to 38% of LGBT people will be the victim of a hate crime at some point in their lives 92. The Civil Partnership Act came into place in December 2005 and provides same-sex couples with some of the rights that opposite-sex married couples enjoy 93. A Stonewall survey found that 83% of Londoners believe anti-gay prejudice should be tackled compared to just 65% in the east of England
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lgbt students
94. Government estimates put the number of LGBT people in Britain at 6–7% of the total population 95. In a 2007 social attitudes survey 98% of Guardian readers said prejudice against lesbian and gay people should be tackled compared to just 49% of Daily Telegraph and 65% of Daily Mail readers 96. Until May 2007 it was legal to refuse goods or services to an LGB person. Trans people still have no protections from discrimination in the provision of goods and services 97. 74% of gay and 42% of straight consumers are less likely to buy products from companies that hold negative views of lesbians and gay men 98. In 2007 a gay man from Paisley won £120,000 from his employer for discrimination because he was gay. This was made possible by the Employment Equality (Sexual Orientation) Regulations 2003 99. From over 700 members of the House of Lords only two – Lord Smith and Lord Alli – are openly LGBT
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lgbt students
100. It is 35 years since the first gay pride march in Britain 101. LGBT people are officially subject to the death penalty in nine countries across the world, in 3 of which recent executions took place
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101 reasons for liberation
Contact black students’ campaign e. blackstudents@nus.org.uk disabled students’ campaign e. disabled@nus.org.uk women’s campaign e. women@nus.org.uk lgbt campaign e. lgbt@nus.org.uk national union of students 2nd floor, centro 3 19 mandela street london nw1 0du t. 0871 221 8221 e. liberation@nus.org.uk w. www.officeronline.co.uk/liberationineveryunion
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Convinced? For a complete guide to Liberation in your Students’ Union please visit www.officeronline.co.uk/liberationineveryunion or contact us at liberation@nus.org.uk! The Liberation In Every Union Pack Includes:
• detailed information about all the Liberation Campaigns • model policy to help you set them up • useful stats and facts • contact details and help with getting started We have come so far in Liberation work over the years but we’re not done yet. Demand Liberation in your Students’ Union this year!
Produced by NUS 08/2007