NOWSA 2018 – A week of powerful discussions on equality, media representation and sexual violence connecting students around the country.
Post by the amazing Hollie from our blog team.
The annual Network of Women Students Association (NOWSA) conference was held in Newcastle in July last year, and was organised by the University of Newcastle’s (UoN’s) Student Union and Wom*ns Collective.
The NOWSA conference was established in 1987 upon the ideals of creating a grassroots and autonomous network of students. These students come together from nationwide universities to discuss and work towards managing issues impacting female identifying students.
Every year, NOWSA hosts a conference at a different Australian university It provides a safe and inclusive space for motivated, leadership-focused attendees to engage with important and timely political, social and cultural issues impacting themselves, peers and contemporary society.
The conference environment allows students to gain and share knowledge, skills and resources facilitated through informative and empowering panels, workshops and caucuses. Attendees of this year’s conference were also given networking opportunities and the chance to work together within groups to develop strategies and advocacy plans with the aim of creating a positive impact for students across the country.
The 2018 conference was held at UoN’s City Campus, running over five days and encompassing a multitude of informative and memorable panel discussions between professionals, academics and sexual violence survivors. Such discussions included those concerned with issues of gendered sexual violence, the representation of women in media, women in law and politics and included keynote addresses from Tilly Lawless, Lee Rhiannon and Sharon Claydon.
Additional to the panels, encompassed within the event were workshops catering to a variety of interest areas held by attendees. These included affirmative consent, self-care, cultural competency and advocacy action planning. As well as this, smaller intimate caucuses were held each day of the conference, providing a safe space for minority identifying individuals to discuss any issues they had faced during the day and management strategies.
NOWSA 2018 did a great job of bringing female identifying students and many future leaders and activists together in Newcastle to discuss profoundly significant issues at a time of extreme contextual relevance. It empowered through opportunities to gain knowledge and discuss plans for advocacy in order to combat the appalling issues of sexual violence and inequality, which are prevalent in modern society.
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