Naz Ismail, Candidate for Womens Rep

Are you interested in working to achieve improvements for women students? The Women's Representative (BLSA) will have the opportunity represent the interests of female Barts and the London students on the issues they face, gathering feedback and campaigning for change.

You’ll be supporting the Vice President Communities, convening with the Students’ Union's Women’s Forum, and speaking to relevant clubs, societies and student groups to identify key areas which we can improve. To encourage more women to participate and engage with the Students’ Union, you’ll also have the option to plan and deliver events, fostering a sense of community for our female students!

What's your favourite moment from being a student here?

My favourite moment so far has definitely been running for Women’s rep in the upcoming BLSA elections, this role is incredibly meaningful to me and has profound impact on the experience of women at Barts. This role so far has been an opportunity for me to get to know the women here at Barts better and learn about what issues and concerns they have and how as a women’s representative - I would be able to advocate for the females on campus and hopefully make a difference. Campaigning for elections is a skill to develop over time, but learning how to put together a manifesto by listening and research the concerns and issues amongst women has been a very rewarding experience as advocating for women’s rights is something incredibly dear to me. Also joining QMBL Basketball has been one of my highlights this year, it is a great club full of amazing women - joining a sports team has been really good for my character development and confidence.

What's something you've done that you're proud of?

Something I am proud is raising £1.2k by baking cupcakes for the Turkey-Syria earthquake appeal by baking cupcakes and hosting a bake sale in Library Square in Collab with Kurdish Society. Also I was Chair of the Children’s Commissioners Advisory Panel 18/19 where I worked with the UNCRC & Children’s Commissioner of Wales to advocate and education about for children’s rights across schools in Wales, this work provided me with the managerial and communication skills needed for this role. Also I recently completed spiritual pilgrimage in Saudi Arabia which is something I am quite proud of :)

What is a problem facing students and how do you propose to fix it?

Moving from Wales to London at 18, more specifically Whitechapel was a huge change of environment for me, and something that I felt unease with quite a bit was my safety. Therefore, I think a current problem that female students are facing is female safety on Whitechapel Campus, we need to advocate more on this matter by pushing for a collective responsibility of women’s safety, this is something that has been a problem for a while now and there are many strategies for this to be resolved such working towards providing females with safety kits, self-defence classes and ensuring improved safety measures for females who are commuting late at night to and from Whitechapel Campus. This can all be achieved by the support of students, staff and the wider community.