All Student Vote (Spring 2021)

SU Space Motion

Proposer: Laura Prisco                                                               Warwick No: 1692623

Seconder: Bede Pharoah-Lunn                                                    Warwick No: 1817491
 

This Union Notes:

1. The outcomes of the Being LGBTUA+ at Warwick Survey showed that LGBTUA+ students feel unsupported by a lack of LGBTUA+ spaces on campus and a community space was one of the recommendations under spaces and facilities.¹
2. In a survey, 60% of students who gave feedback on the Flexigrid LGBTUA+ space trial said a permanent liberation space should be in an SU building, while no one responded that there should not be a liberation space at all.²
3. Other marginalised groups experience similar rates and types of discrimination based on race or ethnicity, disability, religion or beliefs, trans identity and gender.^3,4,5
4. In their Hate Crime Interim Report, NUS found that 41% of incidents involving hate-related verbal abuse, 31% of hate-related physical abuse and 64% of incidents involving display/distribution of threatening, abusive, or insulting material occurred at the student's institution, including the Students' Union.⁶
5. There has been a marked increase in hate crime in the past 6 years, ranging from a 98% increase in hate crimes motivated by race to 427% increase for those motivated by trans identity.⁴
6. The idea for an SU liberation space has been mentioned in the past.¹
7. Liberation spaces promote interpersonal relationships and community building through co-designing and living in shared spaces.⁷
8. Warwick Occupy, throughout their occupation of the Kevin Gately room and one of the Sabbatical Officer rooms, allowed for unprecedented intersectionality, significant progressive change and increased interaction between liberation societies.⁸

This Union Believes:

1. That we have a duty to provide liberation spaces for marginalised communities.
2. That liberation communities would benefit from the provision of a dedicated liberation space.
3. That a permanent liberation space would increase the interaction between different liberation communities, and encourage intersectional organising.
4. That liberated spaces should be self-serving and self-organising.
5. The Union exists to serve its members; therefore, the Union should prioritise improvements to membership services, put welfare first and consider the needs of marginalised students in all its operations.

This Union Resolves:

1. To establish a permanent liberation space in SUHQ by the beginning of the 2020/2021 academic year. The nature of the space must be such that it aids interactions between different liberation communities, and encourages intersectional organising. The space must therefore be sufficiently large (min 20 m²), be an open space and contain furniture such as tables and chairs.
2. To allow the users of the liberation space to organise themselves with covenants and/or community guidelines according to their values, as long as these do not violate Union policy.
3. To not collect information about the use of the liberation space without the explicit consent of those using the space, unless it is for legitimate health and safety purposes.
4. To not collect personal information on individuals with regards to their use of the liberation space without their explicit consent, unless it is for legitimate health and safety purposes.
5. To mandate the President, Welfare and Campaigns Officer, and the Democracy and Development Officer to lobby the University for the provision of a permanent liberation space in a University building.

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1. Lythall, J., Parr, S. and Warwick Pride (2018). Being LGBTUA+ at Warwick. [PDF] Warwick Students' Union. Available at: https://www.warwicksu.com/pageassets/campaigns-communities/communities/lgbtua/being-lgbtua/Being-LGBTUA-at-Warwick.pdf [Accessed 13 Jan. 2020].
2. priscolr@gmail.com (2019). Thoughts on LGBTUA+ Flexigrid Space and Future Liberation Space (Responses). [edoc] Available at: https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1mipzK6MWfZDvTLeBbyklA5Dz59XhYRCTGmJ68z1Wtag/edit#gid=1398177181 [Accessed 13 Jan. 2020].
3. Hate Crime, England and Wales, 2018/19. (2019). [PDF] Home Office. Available at: https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/839172/hate-crime-1819-hosb2419.pdf [Accessed 9 Jan. 2020].
4. Warwicksu.com. (n.d.). Tackle Hate. [online] Available at: https://www.warwicksu.com/campaigns-communities/campaigns/active/liberation/tacklehate/ [Accessed 9 Jan. 2020].
5. Lawcom.gov.uk. (n.d.). Hate Crime | Law Commission. [online] Available at: https://www.lawcom.gov.uk/project/hate-crime/ [Accessed 9 Jan. 2020].
6. Hate Crime Interim Report. (2011). [PDF] National Union of Students. Available at: https://www.nus.org.uk/Global/NUS_HateCrimeReport_web.pdf [Accessed 10 Jan. 2020].
7. Urbach, M. (2017). Liberated Spaces Instead of “Safe” Spaces. [online] Medium.com. Available at: https://medium.com/@martinurbach/liberated-spaces-instead-of-safe-spaces-b94bbb146e6c [Accessed 11 Jan. 2020].
8. Facebook.com. (n.d.). Warwick Occupy Posts. [online] Available at: https://www.facebook.com/pg/warwickoccupy/posts/ [Accessed 11 Jan. 2020].

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