An ex-Union President and several other former Union officers have exclusively told Varsity that they are backing the CUSU Women’s Campaign’s call to disinvite Dominique Strauss-Kahn to speak at the Union.

The Campaign is calling for students to boycott the talk by Strauss-Kahn on the 9th March, due to the fact that Strauss-Kahn has managed to evade court over the claims of sexual assault levelled against him in May 2011 by 32-year-old hotel maid Nafissatou Diallo.

A Union ex-President has told Varsity that inviting Strauss-Kahn undermines the work that has gone into improving the diversity of the termcard.

They said that: “Offering the opportunity to speak to someone who has admitted committing criminal sexual aggression and has evaded the courts for two further charges of rape is seriously damaging – both to survivors of sexual assault and rape, and to the reputation of the Society.”

A former Union Vice-President agreed, saying that “This is an error of judgement by the Union. It’s at its best when it confronts difficult issues, rather than kowtowing to speakers’ desire for publicity.”

Åsa Odin Ekman, a Speaker’s Officer at the Union in 2009, added her voice to the debate, telling Varsity that: “It is hard to see it in any other way than as part of a PR campaign to rebuild his reputation, and silence the very serious allegations that have been made against him. I don’t see why the Union should lend itself to that purpose.”

The current Union President, Katie Lam, told Varsity that the Union have no problem with the CUSU Women’s Campaign exercising their right to an opinion, arguing that “the whole point of our organisation is to champion free speech”.

She adds: “being invited to the Union does not imply support, endorsement or agreement – we hear from a huge range of people with a vast range of views”.

The CUSU Women’s Campaign have written an open letter to the Union, outlining their problems with the fact that the Union tends to invite “rich, white, powerful (in this case allegedly rapist) men to define the Union’s termcard year after year”.

The open letter comments upon the irony that Strauss Kahn is scheduled to speak the day after International Women’s Day, and calls for the Union to “use their space on International Women’s Day to give a platform to a panel of women who can speak about the political realities of sexual violence”.

It goes on to mention the recent appearance at the Union by glamour model Katie Price, suggesting that the Union has become slightly too concerned with using high profile speakers to attract crowds, stating that “sexual violence is not ‘racy’ material with which to pull in the crowds”