As women we recognise the importance of being in positions of influence from the creation of UN Women to the ever growing number of female state leaders – the world has begun to recognise the need to embrace equal opportunity and acknowledge the role that women have to play. This is something I would like to carry forward as your Women’s Representative here at the Students' Union, to quote Nobel Prize winning Malala Yousafzai, “no struggle can ever succeed without women participating side by side with men”.
I’ve learnt over the years that the modern women’s rights movement is an uncomfortable topic for some, ever since watching Emma Watson’s speech at the HeForShe Campaign in 2014, I have recognised the struggle men and women face with identifying as feminists. Many men and women view it to be synonymous with man hating and feel uncomfortable with the idea of aligning themselves with such a cause. As your Women’s Representative I want to encourage men to participate in the conversation of gender equality – it’s a conversation for us all.
Last term I attended an inaugural session of Decolonising DMU and begun to recognise the injustice that some women of colour face even at DMU, this is something that I feel it would be my duty to address. I would especially like to recognise and celebrate the women of colour in our university, doing this through my position of Secretary in the Society of B.L.A.C.K Law Students, but I feel that the opportunity to take on this role will give me much more influence in my goal.
It’s easy to write what I’ve written, but I would like the opportunity to show you what a difference I can make and if I could choose three words to describe myself - just like you.