Sexual harassment: ANU ‘fails’ students, says report

THE 2021 National Student Safety Survey was released today (March 23), providing statistics on sexual harassment and assault experienced by students.

At the University of Canberra 1494 students responded to the survey, and UC has released its results.

Prevalence of sexual harassment at UC in the past 12 months was 10.2 per cent – but 17.5 per cent since starting university

Prevalence of sexual assault at UC in the past 12 months was 1.7 per cent – and 4.9 per cent since starting university.

Vice-chancellor, Prof Paddy Nixon said there was no good news coming out of the NSSS findings.

“What is important to acknowledge however, is that our students have demonstrated great courage in speaking up and sharing their stories, and I thank them for responding to the survey. We will take their feedback seriously, and we will take action.”

Students told the survey that 46.4 per cent of them knew some or all of the perpetrators involved, and 44.5 per cent of incidents occurred in general campus areas; 16.9 per cent of students who were sexually harassed sought support or assistance from the university, and only 2.8 per cent made a formal complaint.

“We will continue to raise awareness of the university’s support services available to our students; and address how survivors, witnesses and bystanders can access our reporting mechanism. We will address campus culture through our UC Respect campaign, to promote a culture of respect on our campus as a collective. And we have already increased security patrols and improved security personnel visibility in areas of concern.”