The CBUSU Women's Centre Functions as a:

Referral Service

by networking with other social agencies, staff and volunteers can offer referrals to help women find services that will best suit their needs.

Support Service

The Centre is here to offer its support to any women who may want, or need it, however we do not act as a counseling services.

Advocate

list of contacts that could be useful to women dealing with a number of issues.

Special Events Organizer

The Woman’s Centre sponsors and co-sponsors events throughout the school year.

Drop-in-Centre

We offer a space where women can come together to discuss ideas, share experience, and organize around issues that are important to woman. Or it can be a place where women can sit and talk together women, in a formal or informal setting. We also offer a safe room which is a perfect place for breast feeding mothers who need a private place to pump milk or breast feed.

Resource Centre

we are continually building up, and adding to our resource library with the goal of having a multitude of books, movies, and magazines to cover a wide variety of subject areas surrounding women’s issues. The centre provides this resource for in centre or take out usage of materials for both personal and research readings.

Mission Statement

The Cape Breton University Students’ Union Women’s Centre is a safe haven for all women on campus regardless of race, creed, color, religion, age, or sexual orientation. The Woman’s Centre is non- judgmental and respects confidentiality. It is operated, developed, and mandated by women.

Vision Statement

The Cape Breton University Students’ Union Women’s Centre is dedicated to celebrating diversity, and to developing and cultivating a woman-positive space and feminist awareness.

The Women’s Centre is open only to all self-identified women and functions as a drop-in center, a resource center, and a safe space where women can network and organize to address issues affecting women on campus, in our community and, around the world.

The Women’s center operates on feminist principles, as we believe in working towards the equality of all women in society.  We see feminism as a movement that empowers and validates women and their experiences, and struggles to eliminate oppression based on gender, race, sexual orientation, class, age and ability.  The Women’s Centre values women’s reproductive freedom and their right to make autonomous choices about their own bodies.

General Information

The Women’s Centre was established in 1997 by a group of dedicated female students, faculty and staff to meet the needs of women on campus.  The Women’s Centre acts as a safe-haven for women, a place where they can come to get away from the hassles of everyday life.  The Centre is run by a student Coordinator and has a number of volunteers who help out throughout the year.  The Centre is strictly a referral Centre; it never gives counseling.

 There are a number of events held by the Centre each year such as, the Take Back the Night March, December 6th Memorial Service, Adopt-A-Family, International Women’s Day and V-Day among others.  The Centre also has an extensive library filled with information on topics such as practicing safe-sex, date-rape, homophobia, gender issues, parenting, etc.  The Women’s Centre also sponsors a Bathroom Campaign, which provides menstrual products, pregnancy tests, and condoms free of charge, to any women seeking them.

Women’s Centre FAQ's

Where is the Women’s Centre?

In the Students’ Union Building (take the stairs across from the bookstore) and follow the signs.

How do I find out more about the Women’s Centre?

You can drop by the centre; call at 563-1471, email the coordinator at womenscentre@cbsu.com

OR you can check out our website at http://cbusu.com/

Will I have to give up a certain amount of my time each week if I do decide to volunteer?

You get to decide when you volunteer, you can help out as much or as little as you want. Though we do require our volunteers to attend certain training workshops, there aren’t many and we try to be pretty flexible about scheduling.

Do I have to be a woman to use the centre?

Unfortunately, only women can volunteer at the centre. There is a no male policy so women can feel comfortable in the centre. BUT men can still have access to our resources through the website and if they need to borrow a book or get information, they can contact the coordinator. Also, we encourage men to attend our events, because we love to see everyone get involved and support a good cause!

What if I don’t want to have office hours, but I still want to be involved in events?

That’s great! You don’t have to have office hours to help organize and run events, OR if you don’t want to volunteer at all but are still concerned about women’s issues you can just attend the events!  If you’d like to be on our mailing list, to be reminded about upcoming events just email womenscentre@cbsu.com

Why should I volunteer at the Women’s Centre?

The Women’s Centre is a great opportunity for CBU women to network with other women, both inside and out of our university community.
Gain leadership and organizational skills
Make new friends
Become aware of issues surrounding women (and humans in general)
Gain experience in an office setting
Looks great on a resume!