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Canberra Today 21°/25° | Friday, March 29, 2024 | Digital Edition | Crossword & Sudoku

Sexual assault report said to shock

ANU Vice-Chancellor Prof Brian Schmidt
A “CONFRONTING” report on sexual assault and harassment will be released tomorrow (August 1) and the Vice-Chancellor of the Australian National University (ANU) is urging students and staff to prepare for its release. 

In the lead up to the Universities Australia – Human Rights Commission report Prof Brian Schmidt says it’s important to remind survivors and people affected by sexual assault and harassment that confidential help and support services are available.

“The coming days will be particularly stressful and traumatic for survivors of sexual assault and harassment,” Prof Schmidt says.

“The results of the survey will be confronting for many people who are reminded of experiences they have had. We are likely to see many members of our community confide their experience for the first time to a friend, a colleague, a teacher, a peer or a counsellor.

“The results will be shocking, and we should be shocked. They will tell us an ugly truth about how young people in particular are affected by sexual violence. It is not an issue that we can simply acknowledge, then move onto the next thing. It is an issue that we must deal with.

“Understanding the extent and shape of the problem is an important step for real change. It means we do have to become more comfortable with difficult conversations about sex, about consent and about what it means to have respectful relationships with our peers, our classmates, our colleagues and our friends.

“It was important that we actively encouraged all students who were randomly selected for the survey to complete it, so that we would have an unvarnished and clear picture of what is happening on campus.

“Guided by this data, and by the stories of students who have been subjected to sexual harassment and sexual assault, we can develop even better support services, education, policies and practices to help reduce these incidents.”

ANU has made sure that additional counselling will be available for students and staff over the coming weeks to deal with an expected increase in the number of people seeking help and support, on top of the 10 counsellors currently employed within the ANU Counselling Centre.

In recent weeks, ANU and the ANU Students Association (ANUSA) also announced a new partnership to fund a full-time Canberra Rape Crisis Centre counsellor to be available on campus. There will be counsellors from the Canberra Rape Crisis centre on campus from Monday.

ANU has also engaged independent consultants Rapid Context to review all ANU policies and procedures for dealing sexual assaults and harassment.

 

Links to resources available to students and staff is available on the Respectful Relationships page on the ANU website. The can be accessed from the homepage at www.anu.edu.au.

 

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