Women at Queens'
As JCR Women's Officer I'm responsible for the welfare and interests, within college and in the University, of the female half of Queens'. I am here to offer support and if you ever need to talk about anything, from work stress to relationships to discrimination, I can be found in V7 armed with tea and biscuits. I can also take any issues you raise to the JCR, the Council of the College Union, and to CUSU Women's Council.
It is my responsibility to promote networking within college so if you feel you would benefit from a meeting with any member of the SCR or there is a speaker that you would like to see come to Queens', I will do what I can to make it happen.
Finally, it is my responsibility to promote good sexual health and general safety. I can provide:
Pregnancy kits/ Condoms/ Personal Alarms/ Chlamydia tests/ Femidoms/ Dental Dams/ Temperature kits/ Lubricant
Please let me know if there are any things not on this list that you feel should be.
Best of luck for this term,
Lucy
CUSU Women's Council
I want to represent Queens' women accurately so let me know your thoughts and opinions. I will be emailing throughout the year with specific points of interest.
Anonymity
Please remember that anything you say to any member of the Welfare team is in confidence but if you don't feel comfortable knocking on my door then anything you ask for can be asked for anonymously. Just leave a note in my pigeon hole saying what you want and I will leave it in my pigeon hole in an envelope labelled "For Anon". You can ask for pregnancy kits, information on any welfare issue such as stress or procrastination, or any of the items listed above.
Personal Alarms
Personal alarms, commonly known as rape alarms, are available for £2.
Cambridge city centre is generally considered to be safe but there have been incidences so please don’t take unnecessary risks; avoid walking around on your own late at night, especially in unlit areas and especially if you’ve had a bit to drink. If you need to get to places late at night/very early on your own then do get one of these personal alarms – they make an impressively loud noise and could help you feel safer.
Sexual health supplies
All members of the Welfare team (Roxy, Emily, and I) have lots and lots of free sexual health supplies to give out. Please don't feel embarrassed to ask us, sexual health is not something to take lightly.
If you don’t want to go through the Welfare team you can also get cost-price sexual supplies from CUSU offices at on the New Museums Site open 9am to 5pm term time. These include: condoms, 12 for £1.60, lubricant and dental dams. There are also condom machines in the Cripps' toilets and the Laundry room.
Your sexual health
Get tested! We will be offering FREE Chlamydia and hopefully Gonorrhoea test throughout the year but it is a good idea to have a full screening at either The Laurels by the Grafton centre or Clinic 1A in Addenbrooke's. It's always nice to hear you don't have Syphilis.
Remember:
- It's free;
- It's completely confidential;
- Any treatment will be free;
- More free condoms.
- If you have an HIV test, nobody will know (occasionally insurers will check with GPs to see if their patient has been tested by them);
Clinic 1A Tel: 01223 217 774 or 217 239 (Mon-Fri: 0900-1700 for an appointment or general enquiries)
The Uni 4 bus goes from just by the Porters' Lodge to Addenbrooke's and only costs 50p if you show your Uni card.
Even if you're in a monogamous relationship currently or haven't been sexually active for a while, there is a chance that you could have picked something up and not realised. Many sexually transmitted infections can lie dormant for years or have very few symptoms, if any. For more information on sexual health in Cambridge, please have a look at Your Sexual Health for more details.
Chlamydia tests
Chlamydia (self-administered) tests are available from me (V7), Roxy Paes (welfare officer) or the college nurse. Chlamydia affects one in ten people under the age of twenty-five, and often has no symptoms. If a test is positive, then a simple course of antibiotics will clear it up, and the sooner you find out, the better. The nurse can send them off for results but either Roxy or I can pass them on to her so there it can still be done anonymously.
When you fill in the information on the test pot, please do make sure you fill in every field, especially the date; otherwise the lab might not be able to test it. You will also need to fill in the code for the test centre: ours is 5JHUG.
Emergency Contraception
Argh! Has a condom split or missed a pill? Help is on hand - for more information on emergency contraception please visit Emergency Contraception.
Welfare Issues
Breast cancer
Breast cancer affects a huge proportion of women in the UK. Although not a risk to most women in our age group, it can affect young women with a family history of the disease. Have a look at Breast cancer information for information about how to check your breasts for lumps. Also, please click on this link and give free mammograms to women in need.
Eating Disorder Support
If you'd like to talk to someone about an eating disorder that you, a friend, or someone in your family are suffering from, check out Eating disorder support containing useful contacts and numbers in Queens' and Cambridge. I am also available to chat at any time and have some useful information.
Positive body-image campaign
Research suggests that 50% of women will wake up to a diet every day and that most women have some kind of dissatisfaction with their bodies. The Positive Body Image campaign, run by CUSU, aims to raise awareness of the need for improved positive body image and help to counteract the negative way that women often see their bodies.
'The first thing you lose on a diet is your sense of humour' (Anon)
Please look at Positive body image campaign for more information.
Stop! Violence Against Women
The Women's Union supports the Amnesty International 'Stop! Violence Against Women' campaign. Violence against women (VAW) is a human rights scandal, yet in many societies it is met with governmental lack of interest, silence or apathy, despite the shocking statistics.
* One in three women has been beaten, coerced into sex, or otherwise abused in her lifetime.
* More than 60 million women are “missing” from the world today as a result of sex-selective abortions and female infanticide
* Every year, millions of women are raped by partners, relatives, friends and strangers, by employers and colleagues, soldiers and members of armed groups
Reclaim the Night
March for safer streets! This year it sets off from Parker's Piece at 8:15 on the 8th May. There's also a bit of a party afterwards in King's.
Women's Welfare
Have a look at Women's Welfare list of useful women's welfare information, with a huge number of organisations for you to contact if needed.
Feminism
http://www.thefword.org.uk/features/2009/07/confessions_of
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Feminism
http://www.FeministA.co.uk
If there's anything else you'd like to see here, or on the Women's Board in Cripps toilets, please email me.
Need a chat?
Just drop me an email, text or note in my pidge and we can meet up for a chat – probably that same day!