Oliver Mosley
Head of Press, Easter 2014
Mobile: +44 (0) 798 880 7962
Email: pressofficer@cus.org
Press Release – 09.02.2016
Feminism Today: Forum at the Cambridge Union
On Wednesday, May 1st 2014, the Union was host to a forum on ‘feminism today’. Chaired by the head of the CUSU
Women’s Campaign Lauren Steele, guests Dr. Catherine White and Christ Green were both interviewed.
Dr Catherine White was the clinical director of St Mary sexual assault centre in Manchester, and Christ Green was the
director of the White Ribbon Campaign, which aims to involve men in the fight to end violence against women, both
guests had a wealth of experience to draw upon throughout the discussions.
The forum kicked off with a question on British lad culture, especially in light of the recent UN report concluding that
sexism in Britain was more pervasive than in any other country. Catherine White admitted that she felt at the ‘sharp end’
of this, with her clinic experiencing 1,300 sexual assault victims last year alone. Despite this, Catherine pointed out that
British sexism was not always this tangible, and it was the ‘drip, drip, drip’ of mysoginy that was the most damaging.
This prompted a lively discussion amongst the audience, with one member feeling that reports such as the UN’s were
unhelpful. Using the example of a facebook friend who posted a link to an article on Saudi Arabian sexual violence in
response to the report, she argued that dramatic headlines such as these only caused many to assume that feminism
today has gone crazy.
Next, we turned to the role of students in stopping sexual violence. Chris Green saw students as key, yet felt that with
sexism ‘interwoven throughout society’ it cannot just be students who get involved. Going on to describe his
motivations for the white ribbon campaign, he felt the situation was plain: it was the ‘worst human rights violation in the
world and men should be doing their bit’.
This subsequently prompted an analysis of men’s place in feminism more generally. A comment from an audience
member about how in his all male secondary school he had never really heard of feminism brought the issue into sharp
focus. When Chris Green responded by talking about the importance of male role models in making men listen,
however, the entire discussion shifted, with one attendee poingnantly asking, but ‘when will men listen to women?’
When there are more ‘female bosses... female movie stars for no other reason than they are half the population... when
there is an equal balance’ another audience member responded. This prompted contributions on issues as wide ranging
as the Bechdel test to gendered children’s entertainment.
The debate was brought to a close with Lauren quoting the recent CUSU survey showing 88% of Cambridge students
do not report sexual assault. Catherine White’s insight, from personal experience, of the many reasons victims do not
come forward was moving. Chris Green then concluded the forum, pointing out that more people won’t come forward
till we further improve both governmental and voluntary provision, because ‘if you want to live in a decent world, its
your job.’
The evening concluded in the bar with an opportunity to eat cake, donate to the Cambridge rape crisis centre and learn
more about various feminist campaigns around the city. The forum had been a lively and engaging, with an audience
almost equally split between the genders. And with reasonable size of people there and the comforting library
atmosphere, most people left feeling they had not only participated in a forum, but a conversation.
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