{"id":48123,"date":"2017-08-01T02:51:34","date_gmt":"2017-08-01T02:51:34","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.thefastfashion.com\/?p=48123"},"modified":"2017-08-01T02:51:34","modified_gmt":"2017-08-01T02:51:34","slug":"half-australian-uni-students-sexually-harassed-scathing-report-lambasts-university-rape-culture","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.thefastfashion.com\/?p=48123","title":{"rendered":"More than half of Australian uni students sexually harassed Scathing report lambasts university rape culture"},"content":{"rendered":"

Just over half of university students have been sexually harassed and seven per cent sexually assaulted on at least one occasion.<\/p>\n

These events took place in their everyday lives, according to a new report published by the Australian Human Rights Commission.<\/p>\n

The report, based on a national survey of more than 30,000 students attending 39 institutions, also looked specifically at university situations.<\/p>\n

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It found 26 per cent of students were sexually harassed in a university setting in 2016 and 1.6 per cent reported being sexually assaulted.<\/p>\n

The term university setting includes events that happened on campus, while travelling to or from university, at off-campus events organised by or endorsed by the university and during university employment.<\/p>\n

Women experienced sexual assault and harassment at disproportionately higher rates than men, the report found.<\/p>\n

And men were overwhelmingly the perpetrators of both sexual assault and sexual harassment cases reported by students to the commission.<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

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“A significant proportion of students who were sexually assaulted or sexually harassed knew the perpetrator, who was most likely to be a fellow student from their university,” the report said.<\/p>\n

“It is clear from the survey that women experience sexual assault and sexual harassment at disproportionately higher rates than men: they were almost twice as likely to be harassed in 2016 and more than three times as likely to be sexually assaulted in 2015 or 2016,” the report said.<\/p>\n

Sex Discrimination Commissioner Kate Jenkins said it painted a disturbing picture of the prevalence rates of sexual assault and sexual harassment at universities.<\/p>\n

“Sexual assault and sexual harassment are far too prevalent in university settings as they are in the broader community,” she said.<\/p>\n

There was also significant under-reporting of sexual assault and sexual harassment to universities.<\/p>\n

“Universities need to do more to prevent such abuse from occurring in the first place, to build a culture of respect and to respond appropriately by supporting victims of abuse and sanctioning perpetrators.”<\/p>\n

Universities Australia chair Professor Margaret Gardner apologised to victims.<\/p>\n

“We are sorry that this happened to you,” Prof Gardner said.<\/p>\n

“Sexual assault is a crime. The person who sexually assaulted you had no right to do what they did. It is not your fault.”<\/p>\n

National Union of Students president Sophie Johnston described the findings from the landmark report, which surveyed thousands of students from 39 unis, as heartbreaking.<\/p>\n

“I think it wasn’t necessarily because they were different or any more severe than what I expected, I guess it was just, after decades and decades of silence from so many victims, to actually hear the voices and see these stories is very confronting.”<\/p>\n

The report was commissioned by Universities Australia to gauge the level of sexual assaults and harassment amid claims the institutions were involved in covering up claims made by victims.<\/p>\n

Adv<\/em>.<\/strong><\/p>\r\n\r\n