Response to Laaki’s resolution Representative Council meeting 15 Oct

Original resolution By approving this resolution, the Representative Council obliges the Board to clarify to the Representative Council how... AYY financially supports associations that have discriminatory structures (rental of facilities, operating grants) AYY’s own regulations take into account the equal treatment of all AYY’s central office and the Board bring up discriminating clubs in their own activities (presents basement facilities for guests, for example) On the one hand, the purpose of this clarification is to provide information on structures that enable disrimination and are supported by AYY. On the other hand, the purpose is to clarify the means by which AYY could show that it does not tolerate discrimination in Aalto community. Based on the clarification, the Representative Council may have a discussion in the autumn on possible measures to dismantle the support of discriminatory structures."

What was the intention The original intention was to gather plenty of factual information which the Representative Council could have utilised in their discussion, such as The view of the Finnish legislation Current/past effects of discrimination Impact of discrimination on the community How does the inclusion/exclusion of people affect the community Based on the information, a survey would be prepared for associations that operate within AYY

What was done? The clarification of some issues was too challenging or burdensome in order to be properly addressed and brought to the attention of the Representative Council. The view of the Finnish legislation Current/past effects of discrimination Impact of discrimination on the community How does the inclusion/exclusion of people affect the community Clarification of terms Discrimination may occur in many ways, therefore we decided to specify the provided response Survey for associations in the 2nd register which use AYY’s facilities Focus on gender-based discrimination

Discrimination Discrimination may occur based on age, ethnic or national origin, disability, sexual orientation, health, religion, language or gender. Multiple discrimination refers to discrimination based on several grounds.

Survey According to your association rules, can a representative of any gender a) become a member of the association b) participate in association activities What is the ratio of women and men in your association? Your association has rented a club room from AYY. How is equality between women and men implemented in the facility and its management? Do all your members have an equal opportunity to participate in association activities? If you find room for improvement here, how will you ensure that the implementation of equality will be improved in your association?

The survey was designed to clarify How gendered are the association activities? Are there any gender differences in associations or activities in the facilities? E.g. opening of doors, definition of responsibilities or the right to vote Have associations noticed gendering and do they intend to do something about it in the future?

Problems in the survey We cannot oblige the associations to respond to the survey or to respond truthfully Associations may even have a rule not to tell outsiders about their activities It is possible to provide indirect responses One error in the survey The ratio of women and men had the option 0% and 0-10%, which allowed/directed to respond 0-10% even if there were no men/women in an association

Who were asked? AssociationFacilities Jämerän naisetStorage space 4 m2 Jämerän toiminnan kiltaClub room 76.5 m2 KokoomusteekkaritClub room 10.3 m2 Kulttuurijaosto KUJClub room 38 m2 Nordiska Ekonomie Studerandes Union- KY Storage space 4 m2, Club room 28 m2 Ota-KarjutStorage space 4 m2 Retuperän WBKClub room 34 m2, Storage space 16 m2, Storage space 7 m2 Suomen ÄPY-lehtien liittoClub room 52 m2, Storage spaces 6 m2, 16.5 m2, 20 m2, 1 m2 Teekkarikulttuurin TukiClub room 68 m2, Storage space 15 m2, Storage space 2 m2 VapaateekkaritClub room 37 m2 W-klubiClub room 22.5 m2 10 associations replied to the survey. Vapaateekkarit and Teekkarikulttuurin Tuki did not respond to the entire survey and for their part the results of the survey are partially incomplete. The survey did not include choirs and orchestras mentioned in the Representative Council, as the survey was limited to associations in the 2nd register (orchestras and choirs have the permit of exception to belong to the 1st register).

Results – is there discrimination? AYY seems to have some associations where activities are strongly gendered. For most parts, activities are not limited by association rules, and therefore there are no obstacles to change the activities for that part. Associations should also comply with their rules and also aim to take equal treatment into account in the recruitment of members. However, the results and responses of the survey do not directly reveal how discrimination may occur. Clarification was also complicated by the fact that all associations did not reply to the survey. As a summary of the Act on Equality between Women and Men, it can be stated that association rules must have specific provisions on the matter if the association wants to prevent women or men from becoming members of an association.

Gender distribution After the survey, we asked the associations that responded 0-10% to specify their answers One of the associations announced that they have 0% of men Other responses of one association may be interpreted to mean that they have 0% of women

Results – how does AYY support associations? AYY’s support for these associations is limited to the rental of facilities. Club rooms are rented for €3/m2 and storage space for €1.75/m2, which should cover AYY’s expenses. AYY has various visitors from student unions in other municipalities. Often the club rooms are presented to the guests and some of these club rooms belong to associations that responded to the survey. The activities of several associations, which are visited, are visible in Aalto community. Some of the associations that participated in the survey also cooperate with AYY’s event sector.

Representative Council Chairperson’s interpretation on AYY’s regulations The only section that refers to discrimination is Section 3 of the Administrative and Economic Regulation. The principles of good administration determine principle of equality as one of the principles of good administration followed by the student union. According to the Association Regulation: Associations in the first register: Association rules may not restrict a student union member’s opportunity to become a full member of the association Associations in the second register: Should engage in activities that connect AYY’s students

Future measures? We discussed the matter with the Board and came to the conclusion that we will propose the preparation of a more comprehensive equality report in the future plan of action The intention is also to clarify other than gender-based discrimination