TRANSCRIPT:
Victims of sexual assault and advocates are urging the government to address the ongoing impacts of sexual abuse and harm in universities across the country.
A new survey highlights victim-survivor experiences, as well as universities' contributions to the situation.
One of the survey respondents who wanted to remain anonymous shares her experience.
“I was close to both these people. We were out drinking socially one night because one of them sort of been going through a rough time, family and some stuff. And, you know, I was actually getting pressured to drink quite a bit that night. I actually remember telling my friend “Hey, like, stop pressuring me to drink” you know and then, walking back to my friend's apartment. I just thought we were going to be hanging out. But I actually couldn't walk all the way down, getting carried by my friend and this ex-partner of mine."
And then once we got back to my friend's apartment, they assaulted me at the same time.”]]
The survivor says after summoning up the courage to report her assault, she never got a response when she reached out to the university for help.
"I spent probably a couple of hours filling out this form and talking with a friend the whole time because obviously it's really intense to kind of disclose all of this. And as well have that associated with who I am at Uni and, you know, not be anonymous in that sense. So you know, took a lot of time to put that together and asked to help. And I actually never heard back from them. So, you know, they had sent me that initial email saying, what can we do for you? I emailed back and they just never responded to me."
The STOP campaign's #IDeserveSafety Survey includes the replies of 52 victim-survivors who describe their experiences of violence and abuse within universities, specifically residential halls and student accommodation.
The submission aims to provide the Australian Universities Accord panel with experiences and recommendations for reform in order to reduce harm and violence in these environments.
Founder of The STOP Campaign, Camille Schloeffel says institutions are treating the problem lightly.
“What was actually downing was actually the responses by universities and residencies when people did disclose or report to their institutions. So, about half of respondents said that they felt dismissed, they felt like they weren't taken seriously. They weren’t believed. And so of the quite a few responses who spoke about, they in particular weren’t taken seriously and their perpetrators weren’t held accountable and were in fact, even promoted into leadership positions and other positions of power, usually because they were women as well. So that came out in a few responses.”
The STOP Campaign Chair Audrey Mims says that student accommodation and on-campus residences are among the most common locations of sexual assault, but decision-makers do nothing about it.
Ms Mims says residential halls and student accommodation providers should be held accountable.
"We really need the Universities Accord panel to fully and seriously and thoughtfully consider what we're saying, because these experiences matter and too often, students aren't taken seriously. They only listen to the perspectives of institutions, and people running those institutions and that's simply not okay, so that's really important."
The Australian Human Rights commission has described the situation as concerning.
And Ms Schloeffel, believes that the impact of sexual assault can last a lifetime.
"The other thing was around the impacts. Half of respondents also spoke about things like suicidality, depression, anxiety, PTSD and hospitalisation, which is really damning, and it really shows that these experiences are life long and the impact of sexual violence is life long and it extends beyond just the incident itself. "
The anonymous respondent to the survey says there should be more awareness about sexual assault.
She believes that most perpetrators are unaware of the scope of sexual abuse.
"The people that assaulted me were people that I knew and trusted and close friends of mine. But they weren't bad people, they're just normal people who didn't even stop to think that what they were doing was wrong. And I think there is this perception of perpetrators that they're just these horrible people who are out in the world, and they're hurting everyone around them, but they're not. Sometimes they're just normal people who don't realise that what they're doing is wrong, and the impact that can have on the people in their lives and that’s always the worst part, its part of me knows that they didn’t mean to do what they did. But it's that lack of knowledge and that lack of education, that’s the reason they didn't even stop to think about it."
Ms Mims says the #IDeserveSafety submission made 25 recommendations to the government in dealing with the situation.
"They kind of go through things of education, universities meeting to educate people who are living in residential halls, and who are staff and students of the universities. They are about transparency, needing to create an independent body, for example, to hold universities accountable for implementing some of the standards around sexual violence prevention and response. Universities needing to publish their policies around sexual violence response. And they're also about awareness raising and ensuring that people understand that sexual violence is an issue and that that issue is going to be taken seriously by universities."
In a statement, Minister for Education Jason Clare says action is being taken to address the situation.
"All students and staff should feel safe on campus. Sexual assault and harassment on campus is serious. It’s clear that not enough has been done to address this in our universities. The Accord team has said this is one area that can’t wait for the Final Report. That’s why a Working Group has been established to provide advice on concrete actions that are aimed squarely at strengthening university governance and keeping students safe."
And listeners seeking support can call 1800RESPECT 24 hours a day, 7 days a week.
