ANU Women’s Department at NOWSA 2017
One of the easiest ways to get involved with the Women’s Department is to join the online communities we have on Facebook. We have two Facebook groups that serve different purposes.
The Social/Alumni group allows members of the Women’s Department, including recent former members and staff, to socialise with their community. You can post memes, articles you found interesting, ask for advice or ask questions, find solidarity, provide recommendations and much more.
All members are expected to preserve the confidentiality of other members’ identities and planning activities, and prioritise the needs of current members. You will need to answer some questions to gain access to the groups, including agreeing to abide by our Safer Spaces Policy. You can find this policy here.
The Organising group is for – you guessed it – organising. In this group we coordinate training, events, campaigns, and advocacy efforts that serve the interests of our members. We post notices of Collective meetings here, so join this group if you want to be involved in the active work of the Department.
We have a non-autonomous Facebook page that members and supporters of the WD can follow. On this page, we post public event notices, any public-facing campaigns, and other things like news items.
The Rapunzel Room is the Women’s Department’s autonomous space on campus. To get access, you will need to provide your name and U-Number, and agree to our Safer Spaces Policy and to treat the space with respect. You can do this via the Google Form link that can be found here, in the descriptions of both autonomous Facebook Groups, or by emailing the Women’s Officer at sa.womens@anu.edu.au.
In this room, you can get access to free condoms and dental dams, pads and tampons, tea and coffee, and many other things. It’s a great place to study or take a break while on campus. It’s also a breastfeeding-friendly and queer-friendly space.
A great way to get involved and meet people in the community is by attending Collective Meetings. These are held weekly in the ANUSA Boardrooms, on Monday 6pm during odd weeks, and an alternative time during even weeks. During Collective Meetings, we discuss what has been going on behind the scenes with the Women’s Officer’s advocacy, bring forward and discuss ideas for events and campaigns, and talk about other things that are happening on campus. The Secretary also posts wrap-ups of these meetings in the Organising group, so if you can’t attend you can still keep up with what’s going on.
The Network of Women Students Australia is an annual conference held at a different university each year. Members of the ANU Women’s Department have been active attendees of NOWSA over the years. NOWSA was founded on ideals of creating a grassroots, autonomous network concerned with issues that impact upon women’s lives. You can read more about NOWSA 2017 in Bossy.
ANU Women’s Department at NOWSA 2017