The Australian Human Rights Commission has released statistics for the last two years of sexual assault and sexual harassment across 39 Australian Universities as part of their 'Respect. Now. Always.' program.
The Commission received 30, 930 responses in total, with 623 of these from University of Newcastle students.
The report found that over 55% of UON respondents have experienced some form of sexual harassment during 2016, and over half had little to no knowledge of where to get support.
Additionally, it was uncovered that 92% of University of Newcastle respondents did not seek support for sexual harassment, with the most common reason being 'I did not think it was serious enough'.
Former Women's convenor for the Student Union at the University of Newcastle, Lucinda Iacono says the results are awful, but not a shock to herself and many other students.
"It definitely should be a wakeup call, I think the fact that institutions require data often to act on these issues, there really are no excuses to not act on [sexual harassment and sexual assault]."
Of sexual harassment victims, 31% reported it took place in a university environment, and 78% of perpetrators were fellow University of Newcastle students.
Vice Chancellor for the University of newcastle, Professor Caroline McMillan ensures the university is more committed than ever to making its students feel safe with the release of these statistics.
"We must provide support for those people to whom the disclosures are made, and provide a pathway where students feel safe in making their experience known. There is much to do, and we will work with students to ensure the people who have responded in these surveys have their voices heard.
"We will continue to deliver education programs such as our Consent Matters program. It is absolutely important for us to have that support for those staff and students."
Proceeding the findings, the University of Newcastle has committed to conduct further research, roll-out compulsory education for all UON students, implement more targeted orientation programs and establish a UON Community Standards document outlining values and expected behaviours.
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| Image Credit: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OgqBmBLRTqg |
