This is 2004. In an ideal world, equality should not be an area in which we should have to campaign. Gender, ethnicity, sexuality and disability should hold little bearing over the opportunities available to us, and the rights we have as citizens. Sadly though, equality has not yet been achieved, and Labour Students recognise that. This year, we are uniting under a banner of equality, campaigning for an end to prejudice and discrimination, and fighting the case for fair representation.

Labour Students are proud of the many historic steps that the Labour government have taken to realise equality. Labour have made significant achievements for Women, Ethnic Minorities, Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and Transgendered and people with disabilities.

Labour's policies have made achieving equality seem a possibility not a dream, but the battle is far from won. Explicit discrimination may be diminishing in society, but inequality remains. Women continue to be judged by their gender rather than their ability, earning an average of 18 per cent less than their male counterparts, for doing the same job. Gay men are barred from giving blood, perpetuating the myth that HIV/AIDs is just a gay disease. And shockingly, the Commission for Racial Equality recently found that for every black person at university in the UK, there are twice as many in jail.

Labour Students won't accept these sad facts as the status quo. This year we are campaigning for a wide-reaching approach to combating inequality.

For more information on the national campaign click here

Something to think about:  
Why Have Liberation Campaigns?

by James Knight

One need only look at the communities in which we live to easily recognise the inequality all around us.  A world where the MacPherson Report finds the Police Service to be institutionally racist.  Where two women die every week at the hands of their current or ex- partner.  Where people with disabilities are eight times less likely to have further or higher education qualifications than able-bodied people. And a world where homophobically motivated crime is not recognised for what it is: a hate crime.

Liberation Campaigns are each campaign against their respective forms of oppression, working with other relevant bodies and organisations as well as the wider youth and equality movement to help enact real and positive change.

People are often misled by the fine distinction between discrimination and oppression, and can doubtless find examples when, for example, heterosexual people are discriminated against because of their sexuality.  The difference is important and clear: discrimination happens on a case-by-case basis.  A white person experiencing racism at some point would be an example of discrimination.

On the other hand oppression is the systematic disadvantage and discrimination of a group in every aspect of society.  For example, a heterosexual person may be discriminated against in a gay club, whereas a gay person is oppressed in every aspect of wider society: bullying in education, harassment in employment, lack of provision in the health service, gay-bashing and so on.  Heterosexual people do not face disadvantage across the board because of their sexuality, though they may face it at certain times and under particular circumstances.

Each of the liberation campaigns should be autonomous – which means that they have the right to self organise and self determine their campaigns and structures.  So, for example, only women can attend the Women's Caucus, where they set the policy and hold elections for their respective liberation officers.

This is not exclusion but empowerment.  In a society where a group is systematically disadvantaged, deliberately or otherwise, it makes sense that the group would want a safe space in which to discuss the issues that affect them. Disablism is a form of oppression that does not affect able-bodied people, so able-bodied people are not best placed to know what the issues are or how to campaign against them. They do not have the personal experience that allows them to go beyond sympathy to empathise with the oppression.

This does not mean that if you do not fall into any particular group you cannot help fight for the fair and equal society that students in the Labour Party all aspire to. It means that the Liberation Campaign will set the agenda and specify how you can help.  If you want to help fight sexism, disables, homophobia and racism then the Liberation Campaigns will be only too happy to accept your help!

Liberation Campaigns can play a vital role, not only in ensuring that Labour Students as an organisation remains free from prejudice but also that potential activists from all backgrounds see Labour Students as a way they can deliver equality.

James Knight is President of NUS Wales.