The CUSU Women’s Campaign has decided to withdraw from a public discussion on institutional sexism and the Cambridge Union, accusing the Union of failing to take the event seriously.

The two groups had co-organised the event in response to criticism of the Union’s events programme, which has recently come under fire within the University and in the national press for offering pole-dancing lessons.

Both parties had worked together to organise a debate at the Union to discuss the issue. However, failures in communication within the Union led the Women’s Campaign to lose confidence in the event.

In an open letter to the Union CUSU Women’s Officer Natalie Szarek said: “The CUSU Women’s Campaign voted to hold the discussion in conjunction with the Union on the understanding that it was willing to critically examine and discuss ways in which it could improve.

However, the way that the Union participated in the organisation of the event suggests that the Union is unwilling to engage with these issues.”

Szarek went on to criticize the Union’s failure to advertise the event on Facebook as specifically addressing sexism within the institution, as the event was instead billed as a discussion on “women, sexism and society”.

According to Szarek: “Despite being willing to address institutional sexism in wider society and in Cambridge University (through the vastly popular “Is Cambridge University institutionally sexist” debate last academic year), the Union is unwilling to subject its own practices to such scrutiny.”

When asked about these publicity failures, Union representatives denied that there was any intentional attempt to sideline the event.

Head of Press Alex Küng said: “As this was an ad hoc event it was not possible to publicise the event on the termcard, and with a large team of incredibly busy students during exam term it is common for phrasing of event descriptions to be inexact.”

After the dissolution of the original event, the debate entitled “Is the Cambridge Union institutionally sexist?” was instead held at King’s College on Wednesday.

Events Officer Juan Zober de Francisco added: “There was a disappointing breakdown in communication between the Union and the Women's Campaign. However, myself and others within the Union are very much in support of addressing this important issue, and most of us will be attending the new forum on Wednesday.”

According to participant Jacob Wills, ““The committee members displayed a willingness to act – but at the end of the day they can’t just continue to invite speakers from the top of the list and simply perpetuate the problems of a patriarchal society.”

The Union Committee was also encouraged by the discussion. In the words of Union Head of Press Rebecca Bailey: “the Union has accepted that some things have to change. However, many grounds for constructive action were discussed, and we are looking forward to taking some proactive steps to address some of the concerns raised at the forum.”