It’s anti-discrimination week at UP.

Challenge yourself: Can you take 15 minutes out of each day to learn more about the challenges faced by people in our community?

The purpose of sharing these stories is to build our own awareness of these challenges so that we can each take steps towards reducing discrimination in our communities and society.

An early step towards addressing discrimination is to recognise our privilege. Privilege means that we have advantages, opportunities and power depending on the situations in which we find ourselves. Privilege can be used in a positive way - to stand up against, and to prevent discrimination. It is important to note that we can each experience multiple dimensions of privilege and discrimination at the same time, depending on the situation we are in and the normative societal values that surround us. This is known as intersectionality.

You can be an ally. An ally is someone who stands up to, and prevents discriminatory action, behavior and words. An ally is not the loudest voice in the room. To be an ally, you need to listen.

“In activist cultures, an ally is a person who belongs to a group which has particular privileges, and who works alongside people from groups that are oppressed in relation to that privilege. The hope is to create change and increase social justice in relation to this oppression” --- Vikki Reynolds

Here are some more resources and reading on how to be an ally:

• https://www.wikihow.com/Be-an-Ally
• https://blog.hubspot.com/marketing/how-to-be-an-ally

Let’s tackle discrimination.

Awareness is a starting point – tackling discrimination requires consistent work and effort.

Below are some areas in which people face discrimination in our society. The linked resources give starting points for developing your own awareness, and for thinking about  how you can support people who are vulnerable to discrimination for many reasons.

These resources include the viewpoints of individuals that have been affected, but an individual is not necessarily representative of everyone who has these experiences. You may also know of other kinds of discrimination.

NB: Trigger warning! The pages and resource links may contain sensitive content related to the themes below. Please approach with care.

​If you are in need of support, the following Campus Resources are available:

• Department of Security Services
• Disability Unit
• Student Counselling
• Student Health Services
• Student Funding
• Student Representative Council
• #SpeakOutUP