Campaigns can range from lobbying the University, the local community and national bodies such as parliament and private organisations to ensure that equal rights are upheld and the injustices in society are removed.
RUSU has four Liberation Groups which represent these different sections:
Black and Minority Ethnic (BME) Liberation Group
http://www.liberation.org.uk/bme
This Group is currently inactive and recruiting for a committee, if you are interested or want to know more about the group and its activities, please contact Dave Campbell: d.m.campbell@reading.ac.uk
RUSU is committed to abolition of racism in all its forms and to racial equality but through the BME group aims to identify and remove the barriers which the Black and Minority Ethic community still face in today's society.
The group aims to inform the student community of the hardships that this community had to endure, such as the slave trade, inequality between white and black peoples. The group does this through events such as Black History Month.
The BME group will also campaign to lobby the local community and central government to oppose such issues such as the British National Party and more specifically anti-fascism.
If you want to know more about this group and their activities, visit the website address above where you can see everything they've been up to and all they have planned for the future.
Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and Trans (LGBT) Liberation Group
www.readingLGBT.org
RUSU has a strong reputation for an active and involved LGBT group and has done a number of events ranging from petitions to lift the ban on Gay and Bisexual men giving blood, debates on being LGBT and being religious, lobbying for the Goods and Services bill to have Trans inclusion and RUSU LGBT was at the forefront to changing the NUS LGB Campaign to include 'T'.
These are only a few of the campaigns that the group has held over the years. In addition, the group offers informative and education session for its members ranging from LGBT sexual health, to personal safety, and they have a welfare team to help those in the LGBT community that need support. The LGBT also has a strong social network and offers a range of events that includes both alcoholic and non-alcoholic options, so that all people, whatever they may like to do in their social life feel included.
If you want to know more about this group and their activities, visit the website address above where you can see everything they've been up to and all they have planned for the future.
Students With Disabilities (SWD) Liberation Group
www.rusu.co.uk/SWD
This Group is just getting up-and-running, in just the last couple of weeks! Make sure you're at Refreshers' Fayre in 3sixty, Monday 12th November, 11am-2pm to sign up! Email swd@rusu.co.uk for more info!
RUSU is committed to ensuring that both the Union and the University are tackling the issues that affect students that have disabilities. The SWD group ensures that the student voice is heard by these bodies to ensure that disabled students can fully participate while at University. They also have involvement in lobbying the local community and on a national level in conjunction with the NUS.
If you want to know more about this group and their activities, visit the website address above where you can see everything they've been up to and all they have planned for the future.
Womens Liberation Group
www.liberation.org.uk/women/home.html
The Women's Liberation Campaign is here to give female students the opportunity to socialise, share experiences, benefit from mutual support and campaign about issues that affect them as women.
The Women's Liberation Campaign does not wish to exclude men: - women are and can be daughters, sisters and girlfriends after all. However we realise that there are some things which are unique to the experience of women.
The Women's group has successfully campaigned about the dangers of drink spiking, breast cancer awareness and care and domestic violence. Other areas we are keen to tackle include a campaign by the Equal Opportunities Commission called Know Your Place which focuses on getting more women into traditionally male dominated industries such as plumbing and engineering, as well as Fair Pay and Pro Choice campaigns, the latter of which promotes the 'our bodies, our choice' stance in reference abortion rights.
If you want to know more about this group and their activities, visit the website address above where you can see everything they've been up to and all they have planned for the future.
The Liberation Campaign
www.liberation.org.uk
In addition to the work done by the four Liberation groups, a number of liberation-focused campaigns will happen through the year fronted by the RUSU Vice President of Student Rights and Diversity.
The main focus this year will be on bullying in University, an awareness campaign that will aim to highlight how bullying is not restricted to schools, but is still very prominent in Higher Education too. It is particularly relevant to Liberation groups as bullying can often be more prominent towards these sections of society, where discrimination can be rife.
Check out the VP Student Rights and Diversity page or the liberation website to see more about this campaign and the others which are planned.
