Staff and students at the University of Sussex have been protesting
against the outsourcing of services since the plans were first announced. This
led to forming the Sussex Against Privatisation campaign group and an occupation of the Bramber
House conference centre (Occupy Sussex). In addition to this, staff at Sussex University
have also been involved in industrial action for ‘fair’ pay in higher education. Due to the
increasing anti-management sentiment, lunchtime protests have been a common
occurrence on campus for the last two years.
How to deal with subversive staff and students
Management at Sussex University have dealt with pesky protesters by
taking out a court injunction banning all forms of unauthorized protest on campus
from 27th March 2013 to 27th September 2013 and, more
recently, by suspending five students, who were later reinstated after a national outcry and further demonstrations. During
the suspension of the Sussex 5, there were three lunchtime demos on campus.
The demos
The first demo (5/12/13) saw hundreds of staff and students march across campus to Sussex House to voice their anger at the suspension of the Sussex 5. The mood was vibrant and hopeful, with the good flags – usually reserved for special occasions – brought out.
***Trigger warning: Sexual assault in some of the following links***
The second demo (6/12/13) brought about a change in mood for some
protesters. The reason for that was the sudden increase in visibility of the
SWP. (For those of you who are unfamiliar with the events surrounding the SWP
and their cover-up of rape, here is a summary that was published soon after the ‘comrade delta’
case was made public.) One of the Sussex 5 is a member of the SWP and it was
thought that they had come to support him. However, students involved in Occupy
Sussex – including the SWP member – knew that many people were uncomfortable with an SWP presence on campus to say the least, yet they thought having
dozens of SWP placards waved in our faces wouldn’t be a problem. It fucking was. In fact, I left the demo within five minutes of
seeing the offensive placards. I wasn’t happy about leaving the demo but I
couldn’t bear to be part of an event that was dominated by an organization that
was unrepentant about its rape-enabling role. It later emerged that others feel
they cannot take part in events where the SWP are not told to fuck off.
Seeing rape-enablers trying to raise their profile (e.g., sell their rag, hand
out placards) and go unchallenged can be triggering, and it reinforces the notion
that rape culture is OK.
The third demo (10/12/13) was the day after the Sussex 5 were
reinstated, and this was when things got interesting! We arrived at Fulton
Court (more commonly known as Library Square) as usual. One of the first things
we noticed was the SWP had a stall selling their rag and there were dozens of
placards nearby, ready to hand out to unsuspecting students when the march
started. I considered leaving the demo again but then I thought it shouldn’t be
me who’s excluded from these events, it should be the rape-enabling SWP.
I spotted a comrade who – thanks to Twitter – I knew was critical of the
SWP. I approached him and told him I was uncomfortable about the SWP presence
and asked if he’d like to help me get rid of them. He didn’t need much
persuading! We walked around and talked to a few other comrades about our plan.
As soon as there were a few of us, we marched over to the SWP stall. I poured
water over their filthy papers to make them unsellable, then my comrade tipped
over their table. We then grabbed the placards and destroyed them.
Several trots came over to have a go but in all honesty, I wasn’t
listening. I caught a few choice words; ‘unity… sectarianism… Nazis… Tory-led
agenda’. Blah, blah, blah. None of us were bothered by what the trots had to
say, we were buzzing! After the boring speeches given mostly by more swappies
(seriously, they’ve infested all Sussex demos), we went on a march around
campus that was more vibrant and energetic than the ones I’d been on recently.
Why turn over the SWP stall now? Why not at the second demo?
So what made us feel able to confront the SWP on the third demo, but not
the second? Well, one reason could be the perceived support on the third demo.
The third demo was smaller than the previous two, so it was easy to find
comrades and talk to them. Once we got talking, it was clear that we all felt
that rape-enablers should be booted out of events if their presence makes women
uncomfortable. This wasn't just about the SWP; this was about there being no
place in our movement for rapists and their accomplices. Once we realised how
each of us felt, trashing the SWP stall was a doddle. The power of collective
action, innit.
The time and the place for confrontation
There has been a lot of talk about whether demos are the time and place
to confront misogynists in our midst. The short answer to that would be yes,
they definitely are. The time and place to confront rape-enablers is whenever
and wherever we see them try to raise their profile. Besides, trashing their
stall and destroying their placards felt fucking good!
