OPINION: Student media is a vital part of the collective student voice. It is an outlet for student related stories, stories that cannot be published in other mediums and an outlet for criticism of the institution to which we belong when necessary.

We launched protest against Otago University's actions because we believe their actions to be intentional and deliberate censorship. Despite saying that the removal of the magazines was a communication mistake between Campus Watch officers and higher authority, hours after the statement calling it a mistake was released, Campus Watch officers were still removing posters of the cover image that were being put up by students.

The menstruation issue was an idea brought to Critic as part of a Period Week campaign, initiated by the Women's+ Club, a group on campus designed to empower women and gender minorities.

The aim of the issue was to destigmatise and challenge the taboo of menstruation, including the idea that periods are something that we should be ashamed of and something we should hide.

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We constantly see in the media (and in previous Critic covers) bodies that are naked and/or sexualised and this has never been deemed a cause for offence or censorship.

Instead, when we show a graphic, but natural, depiction of a menstruating body, the university's immediate reaction was to hide it. In doing so, the university has played into the stigma that we were aiming to dispel. The university has drawn a line in the sand about what can and can't be published. We don't get to choose to have a period, but we absolutely should have the choice to discuss them without being censored.

The narrative of the story from the university thus far has been one of scapegoating Campus Watch as a singular entity and placing sole decision making responsibility onto the Proctor Dave Scott. The university is an institution and Campus Watch is an attached arm of that institution. Any decision made by Scott is a decision made by the university. We do not accept the blatant delegation of blame that has been handed down.

Otago University has time and time again made decisions that put their brand and reputation over the wellbeing of students and staff. Otago students are rarely if ever meaningfully engaged in changes and ongoings of the university. We pay tens of thousands of dollars to attend this university and are personally affected by the decisions made - whether it is staffing cuts, departmental restructures and changes to how we receive mental healthcare, to name a few.

Students are an innate part of the University of Otago. We are not here to be coddled and controlled to protect your brand.

A PLANNED PROTEST

As such, we have planned a protest on Friday May 25, from 12pm. We will begin at Union Lawn and move towards the Clocktower.

The protest will highlight student's feelings towards the lack of consultation and censorship and silencing from the institution.

STUDENT DEMANDS

As per the protest, the students lay the following demands of Otago University:

* We demand that Otago University Students' Association's (OUSA) independence from the university is re-established to support student voices.

* We demand the university abide by the rules and regulations that are in place so that the right to freedom of speech is not infringed upon.

* We demand the university faculty be upfront when they disagree with promotional content and ideas that are published legitimately by students, without the hiding behind third parties.

* We demand that Campus Watch staff receive training on the legal limitations of their role.

Lack of active engagement with students in decision making is an issue faced nationwide in tertiary institutions, and is the after-effect of years of dissolution by students who are overworked and under resourced and who not longer have the ability to fight back against poor decision making.

This is not an isolated fight as we see Auckland University is currently fighting against the lack of democratic input. We encourage students nationwide to join in demanding better processes.

ON MENSTRUATION

And lastly, periods are normal. Let's stop treating them like our dirty little secret.

Laura Cairns, Kyra Gillies, Sinead Gill, Laura Anderson, William Dreyer and Finn Campbell are students at Otago University who plan to hold an organised protest on Friday, May 25 in response to the University's censorship of the student magazine Critic.