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| UON slammed about 'bare minimum' of sexual assault reports. Image: theherald.com.au |
The University of Newcastle is being criticised by advocacy group End Rape on Campus (EROC) Australia for a lack of transparency about complaints of sexual assault and harassment and a poor resolution model for victims.
The report stems from Channel Seven's freedom of information investigation last year, of all 39 universities in Australia,
UON is being slammed as tight-lipped in relation to their 14 cases of sexual complaints from 2014 to 2016 in comparison to other universities such as the University of New England. UON provided "the absolute bare minimum" of information to the investigation said Nina Funnel, co-author of the EROC Australia report.
"[The University of Newcastle] provided some very vague summary data but didn't provide anywhere near the level of detail other universities were willing to provide," said Ms Funnel.
There are also great concerns regarding the University's "one-size-fits-all" resolution model for dealing with incidents of sexual assault and harassment.
Ms Funnel says the most disturbing step of the complaint process was the recommendation of informal mediation.
"Expecting a rape victim to sit down and have a cup of tea with the person who raped them and trying to resolve the matter is highly inappropriate."
The Women's Convener at the Newcastle University Students Association, Lucinda Iacono, also shares concerns about the current handling of sexual assaults and harassment on campus.
"It's out there now. [The University] needs to start taking this seriously and treating it as a real issue rather than something they can sweep under the carpet", she said.
Ms Iacono doubts the 14 reported cases represent the real issue on campus saying "we've had at least eight people in the last year come to us to report sexual assault because of the way the University has reportedly handled things".
"Mediation might be appropriate in the case of bullying but that is wholly inappropriate for sexual assault cases", Ms Iacono said.
Ms Funnel who is also an anti-violence advocate is also concerned about the lack of sexual assault prevention training being implemented by residential universities such as UON. Last year a survey was issued to residential colleges asking what training would be implemented in 2017.
"None. And I mean none of the colleges attached to the University of Newcastle were willing to answer that question and I think that raises concerns", said Ms Funnel.
The overall consensus from Ms Funnel is that UON needs an update of policy.
