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http://www.smh.com.au/nsw/revealed-...and-harassment-on-campus-20160513-gourdk.html
University of Sydney student Blythe Worthy was tucked away on a deserted floor of Fisher Library studying, unaware an older man was close by watching her and masturbating.
It was only when another student confronted the man that he fled. Yet Ms Worthy said that when she told the staff what had happened, they took no action.
"The librarian seemed completely flabbergasted as to what she was supposed to do," Ms Worthy recalled. "There was no procedure to follow, no incident form to fill in, no one checked he wasn't still in the building."
Ms Worthy believes her university is uncertain how to respond when confronted with allegations of sexual assault and harassment involving students. "They don't know how to handle it, so instead of doing something about it they choose inaction," she said.
She is one of a number of young women who have contacted Fairfax Media after The Sun-Herald last week revealed that universities have been accused of putting their reputation ahead of caring for students who have been attacked and harassed.
The story said universities were "target rich" environments for sexual violence, experts said, because of their high proportion of young people, many of whom are living away from home in a party-hard atmosphere and experiencing freedom for the first time in their lives.
The behaviour of university college students came under further scrutiny this week, after it was revealed Wesley College students at Sydney University had "slut shamed" female students in an annual journal, and infiltrated a massage parlour as part of a scavenger hunt during O week.
On Friday, the master of Wesley College, Lisa Sutherland, said in a statement that she would not divulge the names of those involved to vice-chancellor Michael Spence.
While few of the students who contacted Fairfax Media this week have made an official complaint, those that did were dissatisfied with how their institution dealt with the matter. Universities Australia is running a national campaign to stamp out sexual assault and harassment on campus, and improve the way universities deal with reports of assault and harassment.
Another University of Sydney student alleges she was assaulted by a fellow female student in an alley near the uni. "She tried to kiss me and put her hands up my skirts. I was scared and I kind of froze but then I threw her off me," the 19-year-old recalled.
The student complained to an officer from the Student Representative Council, who organised a mediation between the two girls. The student says she was made to feel it was her fault, and ended up apologising to the alleged perpetrator."They couldn't have possibly handled it worse," the student said. "The whole thing was treated as gossip and like it was my fault. None of them had any training in how to deal with [sexual assault complaints]."
A University of Sydney spokeswoman said "it is an unfortunate fact that students do experience sexual assault or harassment. However, a recent student survey of our students indicates that students experience such incidents on campus at a much lower rate than in the general community".
The spokeswoman said the university would follow up with the SRC to investigate their internal procedures when students raise issues with them.
A University of New South Wales student said a man she didn't know kept trying to grind up against her when she was dancing at a campus function, even though she made it clear she didn't want him to. "Finally I turned around to tell him to bugger off before I realised his penis was out of his pants, erect, and he'd been rubbing it on me the whole time. I just ran out of the crowd after that."
The student said she didn't report the incident. "I never really saw a route or opportunity available to talk about what happened."
A UNSW spokeswoman said the university "deplores" incidents of sexual assault and harassment and takes immediate measures to investigate any reports. "Where these incidents occur we encourage reporting and will provide support," the spokeswoman said. "All reports of sexual harassment or assault are investigated under our procedures for handling student misconduct and where appropriate are referred to the police."
To encourage reporting of incidents, UNSW has set up a dedicated website for students, UNSW Respect, which provides advice about reporting sexual assault and harassment. "We are determined to create an environment in which such behaviour is not tolerated and where victims feel confident in seeking help," the spokeswoman said.
Past and present members of residential colleges have told Fairfax Media of numerous disturbing practices, such as boys sneaking into girls' rooms seeking sex late at night, boys offering money or "room points" in return for sexual favours, and girls being outed in public forums for being drunks, or sluts. "It seems like it's pretty systemic, and it's a great way to ruin people's uni experiences," one former college student said.
One woman who lived on campus at UNSW for a year said male residents would roam her floor trying to get into girls' rooms.
"One night I forgot to lock my door and a drunk guy came into my room and tried to talk me into doing a sexual thing in exchange for room points," this woman recalled. Room points are awarded for positive community acts, and people with the most points get upgraded to better bedrooms.
"I was very freaked out by this, and he eventually left." This woman said she moved out of the college as soon as she could.
A current UNSW college student said another resident in her dormitory asked her for money in exchange for oral sex. She reported it to the dean the next morning and the male student wrote her a formal apology and is no longer at the college.
If you need to talk to someone about sexual assault or sexual harassment, call 1800RESPECT.
University of Sydney student Blythe Worthy was tucked away on a deserted floor of Fisher Library studying, unaware an older man was close by watching her and masturbating.
It was only when another student confronted the man that he fled. Yet Ms Worthy said that when she told the staff what had happened, they took no action.
"The librarian seemed completely flabbergasted as to what she was supposed to do," Ms Worthy recalled. "There was no procedure to follow, no incident form to fill in, no one checked he wasn't still in the building."
Ms Worthy believes her university is uncertain how to respond when confronted with allegations of sexual assault and harassment involving students. "They don't know how to handle it, so instead of doing something about it they choose inaction," she said.
She is one of a number of young women who have contacted Fairfax Media after The Sun-Herald last week revealed that universities have been accused of putting their reputation ahead of caring for students who have been attacked and harassed.
The story said universities were "target rich" environments for sexual violence, experts said, because of their high proportion of young people, many of whom are living away from home in a party-hard atmosphere and experiencing freedom for the first time in their lives.
The behaviour of university college students came under further scrutiny this week, after it was revealed Wesley College students at Sydney University had "slut shamed" female students in an annual journal, and infiltrated a massage parlour as part of a scavenger hunt during O week.
On Friday, the master of Wesley College, Lisa Sutherland, said in a statement that she would not divulge the names of those involved to vice-chancellor Michael Spence.
While few of the students who contacted Fairfax Media this week have made an official complaint, those that did were dissatisfied with how their institution dealt with the matter. Universities Australia is running a national campaign to stamp out sexual assault and harassment on campus, and improve the way universities deal with reports of assault and harassment.
Another University of Sydney student alleges she was assaulted by a fellow female student in an alley near the uni. "She tried to kiss me and put her hands up my skirts. I was scared and I kind of froze but then I threw her off me," the 19-year-old recalled.
The student complained to an officer from the Student Representative Council, who organised a mediation between the two girls. The student says she was made to feel it was her fault, and ended up apologising to the alleged perpetrator."They couldn't have possibly handled it worse," the student said. "The whole thing was treated as gossip and like it was my fault. None of them had any training in how to deal with [sexual assault complaints]."
A University of Sydney spokeswoman said "it is an unfortunate fact that students do experience sexual assault or harassment. However, a recent student survey of our students indicates that students experience such incidents on campus at a much lower rate than in the general community".
The spokeswoman said the university would follow up with the SRC to investigate their internal procedures when students raise issues with them.
A University of New South Wales student said a man she didn't know kept trying to grind up against her when she was dancing at a campus function, even though she made it clear she didn't want him to. "Finally I turned around to tell him to bugger off before I realised his penis was out of his pants, erect, and he'd been rubbing it on me the whole time. I just ran out of the crowd after that."
The student said she didn't report the incident. "I never really saw a route or opportunity available to talk about what happened."
A UNSW spokeswoman said the university "deplores" incidents of sexual assault and harassment and takes immediate measures to investigate any reports. "Where these incidents occur we encourage reporting and will provide support," the spokeswoman said. "All reports of sexual harassment or assault are investigated under our procedures for handling student misconduct and where appropriate are referred to the police."
To encourage reporting of incidents, UNSW has set up a dedicated website for students, UNSW Respect, which provides advice about reporting sexual assault and harassment. "We are determined to create an environment in which such behaviour is not tolerated and where victims feel confident in seeking help," the spokeswoman said.
Past and present members of residential colleges have told Fairfax Media of numerous disturbing practices, such as boys sneaking into girls' rooms seeking sex late at night, boys offering money or "room points" in return for sexual favours, and girls being outed in public forums for being drunks, or sluts. "It seems like it's pretty systemic, and it's a great way to ruin people's uni experiences," one former college student said.
One woman who lived on campus at UNSW for a year said male residents would roam her floor trying to get into girls' rooms.
"One night I forgot to lock my door and a drunk guy came into my room and tried to talk me into doing a sexual thing in exchange for room points," this woman recalled. Room points are awarded for positive community acts, and people with the most points get upgraded to better bedrooms.
"I was very freaked out by this, and he eventually left." This woman said she moved out of the college as soon as she could.
A current UNSW college student said another resident in her dormitory asked her for money in exchange for oral sex. She reported it to the dean the next morning and the male student wrote her a formal apology and is no longer at the college.
If you need to talk to someone about sexual assault or sexual harassment, call 1800RESPECT.
