Sociology and Criminology at Manchester Metropolitan University’s Post

“ The Sarah Effect”✨ Last Friday I had the pleasure of being invited back to Manchester Metropolitan to deliver a short seminar during a “Delivering Justice for Women” unit lesson, on revolutionary women and the impact on Implementary and Fundamental reform. Thank you Kathryn Chadwick - for inviting to the space & sharing it with us on your birthday 🎂 + Becky Clarke who stubbornly won’t join LinkedIn! ;) I outlined my academic background alongside my personal experiences & background that led to activist work that resonated with me, alongside studying criminology Bsc & before… I used the space as an “ advice - not a lesson” session, and drew conclusions with hindsight to things I wish I realised sooner & learnt during DJW but applied in the ‘real world’. The session was originally planned out to be a lesson on revolutionary women in Sudan, front-lining and promoting activism work during the war. I opted to discuss Sudan, and inform the students to educate themselves on the breadth and depth of the situation at hand. ( I will make a separate post regarding Sudan & ways to help+ show solidarity). The main points of learning, applied with hindsight were: * Activism is not bad. - who is it that demonises protest? *YOU DON’T NEED QUALIFICATIONS TO MAKE A DIFFERENCE * You learn nothing & everything in DJW. - for most women and girls we are able to see the systems of patriarchy and ways of misogyny reflect in our communities, without a way to make sense of the phenomenon at hand. * Most revolutionary women were rule-breakers, at that place or time. * You don’t need to know who you want to be or what you want to do immediately when finishing university. * Women will always be a topic of conversation. * If you can’t find an initiative you support - start your own !!! * Activism work is community work! * Essay scores have no correlation with your ability to apply knowledge to real world scenarios and cases. To end the session I couldn’t mention Sudan without sharing light to the fact that Sudan had the pyramids first🌟 - & advising although the majority would assume the most significant way of support is donations, sharing knowledge & signing petitions is activist work & each signature is a push of solidarity for so many causes on change.org and other sites. I was honoured to see the results in the poll that followed, that 99% of the students agreed with fundamental reform as better favoured that implementary reform when considering ways of delivering justice for women.- the phenomenon comically Nick-named “ The Sarah Effect” by Becky. It was intruiging and fulfilling to think of advice with hindsight & I think that most of all, not knowing who to be or how to help but knowing who to help and where is the biggest step for personal development & to “ find your calling”. ✨ thank you again Kathryn & Becky, I’m thrilled to hear the the delivering justice for women at MMU lives to see another year! :)