tag:theconversation.com,2011:/global/topics/sexual-assault-on-campus-19001/articlesSexual assault on campus – The Conversation2023-08-24T12:37:56Ztag:theconversation.com,2011:article/2092062023-08-24T12:37:56Z2023-08-24T12:37:56ZCampus sexual assault prevention programs could do more to prevent violence, even after a decade-long federal mandate<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/540550/original/file-20230801-16682-apsfw8.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=0%2C8%2C5874%2C3889&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Meghan Downey of Chatham protests on September 7, 2017, as then U.S. Education Secretary Betsy DeVos announces federal policy changes in rules for investigating sexual assault reports on college campuses.</span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.gettyimages.com/detail/news-photo/meghan-downey-of-chatham-new-jersey-protests-outside-as-u-s-news-photo/1029010716?adppopup=true">Lawler Duggan/For The Washington Post via Getty Images</a></span></figcaption></figure><p>Ten years after a <a href="https://safecampuses.biz/clery-act/campus-save-act/">federal law</a> required colleges and universities to <a href="https://www.acenet.edu/Documents/VAWA-Summary.pdf">offer sexual assault prevention programming</a> to students, <a href="https://doi.org/10.1007/s12103-016-9356-4">only about half</a> of them are doing it. </p>
<p>Without a national database containing standardized measures of campus sexual assault over time, it is difficult to determine whether campus sexual assault has decreased since this prevention programming requirement went into effect. One <a href="https://doi.org/10.1037/vio0000209">review of campus climate surveys</a>, designed to measure various forms of sexual misconduct at colleges and universities, revealed differences in the ways that schools measure assault. </p>
<h2>Scope and consequences of campus sexual assault</h2>
<p>A large-scale <a href="https://www.aau.edu/sites/default/files/AAU-Files/Key-Issues/Campus-Safety/Revised%20Aggregate%20report%20%20and%20appendices%201-7_(01-16-2020_FINAL).pdf">2019 campus climate survey</a> of students across 33 U.S. campuses indicated that 1 in 5 women experienced some form of sexual assault after entering college. Both women and nonbinary students, those whose gender may not align with their sex assigned at birth, were four times as likely to experience sexual assault as men.</p>
<h2>College students who are sexually assaulted face numerous consequences</h2>
<p>College students who are sexually assaulted are at risk of experiencing numerous adverse outcomes, <a href="https://doi.org/10.1177/15248380211030247">including poor academic performance</a>, <a href="https://doi.org/10.1177/15248380211032213">post-traumatic stress disorder</a>, <a href="https://doi.org/10.1177/0886260518817778">repeated sexual assault</a> and <a href="https://doi.org/10.1089/vio.2020.0033">suicidal thoughts</a>. </p>
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<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/540551/original/file-20230801-29-678o4f.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="A man wearing a suit and tie sits while he signs a document. Suited men stand around him watch as he signs." src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/540551/original/file-20230801-29-678o4f.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/540551/original/file-20230801-29-678o4f.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=418&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/540551/original/file-20230801-29-678o4f.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=418&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/540551/original/file-20230801-29-678o4f.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=418&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/540551/original/file-20230801-29-678o4f.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=525&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/540551/original/file-20230801-29-678o4f.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=525&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/540551/original/file-20230801-29-678o4f.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=525&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
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<span class="caption">President Barack Obama signs the Violence Against Women Act into law at the Department of the Interior March 7, 2013, in Washington, D.C.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.gettyimages.com/detail/news-photo/president-barack-obama-joined-by-vice-chairwoman-of-the-news-photo/163294804?adppopup=true">Alex Wong/Getty Images</a></span>
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<p>Considering these harmful outcomes, effective sexual assault prevention programs have the potential to protect college students from a range of problems. </p>
<h2>The effects of campus sexual assault prevention programs</h2>
<p>As <a href="https://scholar.google.com/citations?user=rm9WkecAAAAJ&hl=en&oi=ao">researchers who study sexual violence</a>, we <a href="https://scholar.google.com/citations?hl=en&user=0ErXaVYAAAAJ">examined prevention programs</a> and their effects on campus sexual assault.</p>
<p><a href="https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jadohealth.2023.02.022">Our research team analyzed</a> data from 80 studies evaluating campus sexual assault prevention programs in the U.S. These programs cover a range of topics designed to educate college students about sexual assault and lower their risk of victimization and perpetration. Our analysis indicated that the most common topics discussed in these programs were alcohol use and the importance of sexual consent. Many programs also encouraged participants to be responsible “bystanders” who help when someone is at risk for assault. </p>
<p>We found that programs have a more pronounced effect on students’ attitudes and knowledge about sexual assault than on the prevention of sexual assault. The largest effect was on students’ understanding of what constitutes sexual assault. We found moderate reductions in students’ beliefs in myths that create hostility toward victims of sexual assault. There were also moderate increases in bystander intentions to help and in their confidence that they could help. The smallest significant effect was on victimization, which includes a range of behaviors such as unwanted sexual contact and rape. We found no significant effect on participants’ rates of sexual assault perpetration.</p>
<h2>Violence prevention programs have room for improvement</h2>
<p>Violence prevention programs often <a href="https://doi.org/10.1177/1077801218815778">target students’ attitudes and knowledge</a> with the intent of decreasing violence. Yet students who participated in prevention programs had only a slightly lower rate of sexual victimization than students who did not participate. Also, students who participated in programs had similar rates of perpetration than students who did not participate. </p>
<p>We analyzed studies that were released between 1991 and 2021 and found programs are no more or less effective than they were three decades ago. </p>
<p>In general, programs that we analyzed were less effective at preventing sexual victimization of participants when greater numbers of men were included in the studies. However, this is likely because men have a lower risk of being sexually assaulted than women. </p>
<p>We do not know if these programs protect LGBTQ students from assault more or less than they protect straight or cisgender students. This is because the majority of studies did not report the sexual orientation of participants, and researchers in most studies allowed students to define themselves only as men or women, without providing nonbinary options. </p>
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<span class="caption">Students stand in front the Columbia University library with a mattress on Oct. 29, 2014, in support of ‘Carry That Weight,’ student Emma Sulkowicz’s project against sexual assault.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.gettyimages.com/detail/news-photo/students-stand-in-front-of-the-library-of-the-columbia-news-photo/458091210?adppopup=true">Selcuk Acar/Anadolu Agency/Getty Images</a></span>
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<p>Our findings indicate that campus sexual assault prevention programs lead to only a small reduction in sexual assault. That may be because the content of many of these programs lags behind recommendations of leading authorities such as the World Health Organization. </p>
<h2>An ecological approach to campus sexual assault prevention</h2>
<p><a href="https://apps.who.int/iris/bitstream/handle/10665/42495/9241545615_eng.pdf">The World Health Organization</a> recommends a broad ecological approach to preventing violence by targeting <a href="https://www.cdc.gov/violenceprevention/sexualviolence/riskprotectivefactors.html">risk factors</a> that can exist on an individual level, in relationships, within the community and in society at large.</p>
<p>People who misuse alcohol or drugs, or who are tolerant of violence, are more likely to sexually assault someone. Having witnessed parental violence or hanging out with friends who behave in violent ways also makes someone more likely to commit sexual assault.</p>
<p>Students at colleges and universities with cultures that tolerate sexual violence are at risk for perpetrating sexual assault. Also, in broader society, gender inequity and norms that support violence can lead to sexual assault perpetration. </p>
<p>According to the ecological model, the most effective interventions target risk and protective factors that lie at the individual, relationship, community and societal levels. Most research on campus sexual assault prevention addresses factors that lie at the individual level, such as by targeting individual students’ drinking behavior. A smaller number of studies address the relationship level, such as by teaching couples to communicate in a healthy manner. In our <a href="https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jadohealth.2023.02.022">search of available research</a> evaluating campus sexual assault prevention programs, we found very few programs targeting the community or societal level. Rare examples included programs that tested campuswide policies that treat sexual assault as a serious problem.</p>
<p>As long as prevention programs continue to focus on individuals and not the broader environment, they will continue to have small effects on campus sexual assault.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/209206/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Heather Hensman Kettrey received funding from the US Department of Justice Office on Violence Against Women to conduct the research described in this article.</span></em></p><p class="fine-print"><em><span>Martie Thompson, Ph.D. has received funding from NIH, NSF, OVW, and NIJ, and the American Foundation for suicide Prevention</span></em></p>In the 10 years since the Campus Sexual Violence Elimination Act took effect, the measure appears to have had a greater effect on knowledge about sexual assault than on prevention.Heather Hensman Kettrey, Associate Professor of Sociology, Clemson UniversityMartie Thompson, Professor of Public Health, Appalachian State UniversityLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/2100572023-07-23T19:58:33Z2023-07-23T19:58:33Z‘More obviously needs to be done’: how to make Australian universities safe from sexual violence<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/538421/original/file-20230720-25-5dabfx.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=0%2C10%2C6709%2C4456&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">
</span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">Shutterstock</span></span></figcaption></figure><p>Last week, the federal government released an <a href="https://theconversation.com/the-job-ready-graduates-scheme-for-uni-fees-is-on-the-chopping-block-but-what-will-replace-it-209974">interim report</a> for the Universities Accord. </p>
<p>This review team, led by Professor Mary O'Kane, has been tasked with creating a “visionary plan” for Australian higher education. Amid their wide-ranging, <a href="https://www.education.gov.au/australian-universities-accord/resources/accord-interim-report">150-page report</a>, there was a significant acknowledgement. When it comes to safety and sexual assault on campuses, “more obviously needs to be done”. As the report says: </p>
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<p>Sexual assault and harassment on campus is affecting the wellbeing of students and staff, and their ability to succeed.</p>
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<p>The interim report contains some initial measures and ideas to further improve student safety. But student survivors and advocates want to make sure universities are transparent about what is happening on their campuses, with real consequences if they are not. </p>
<h2>Sexual violence on campus</h2>
<p>In March 2022, a <a href="https://www.nsss.edu.au">report</a> commissioned by peak body Universities Australia found one in 20 students had been sexually assaulted in a university context since starting their studies. One in six had been sexually harassed in a university context since starting their studies. </p>
<p>Significantly these rates showed little shift from the Australian Human Rights Commission’s 2017 <a href="https://humanrights.gov.au/our-work/sex-discrimination/publications/change-course-national-report-sexual-assault-and-sexual">report</a> on university sexual assaults, despite universities committing to a range of measures that would make campuses safer.</p>
<p>For my <a href="https://doi.org/10.26190/unsworks/24894">doctoral research</a>, I interviewed 24 university sector stakeholders including student representatives and advocates. Many expressed frustration with the time it took for a complaint to be dealt with by universities, which often re-traumatised student survivors. They also highlighted a lack of transparency around university reporting and disciplinary measures for perpetrators.</p>
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<a href="https://theconversation.com/1-in-3-uni-students-have-been-sexually-assaulted-in-their-lifetime-they-demand-action-on-their-vision-of-a-safer-society-179367">1 in 3 uni students have been sexually assaulted in their lifetime. They demand action on their vision of a safer society</a>
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<h2>What does the review say?</h2>
<p>The interim report contains five initial, “priority” recommendations, which the federal government has already agreed to.</p>
<p>This includes a recommendation to improve university governance with a particular focus on staff and student safety and to add more higher education expertise to governing bodies. The report says the federal government needs to do this with state governments through national cabinet. </p>
<p>The review team is also seeking feedback on more than 70 ideas for the final report, due in December. A number of these centre around wellbeing on campus. It specifically wants to give more consideration to</p>
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<p>improving student wellbeing and safety, including empowering students on matters that affect them.</p>
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Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/the-job-ready-graduates-scheme-for-uni-fees-is-on-the-chopping-block-but-what-will-replace-it-209974">The Job-ready Graduates scheme for uni fees is on the chopping block – but what will replace it?</a>
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<h2>What needs to happen now?</h2>
<p>Releasing the report, Education Minister Jason Clare declared his intention to immediately write to state and territory ministers and prioritise student and staff safety – among other governance issues – when they next meet.</p>
<p>This represents an important signal to state and territory governments that the federal government expects an escalated national response.</p>
<p>We certainly need state governments to be involved here. </p>
<p>The federal government funds and regulates higher education but apart from the Australian National University, universities are governed by state or territory legislation. </p>
<p>The review’s further recommendation that governments should rebalance university governing boards “to put greater emphasis on higher education expertise” offers a crucial opportunity to appoint individuals with sexual violence expertise who can advise on student safety and wellbeing.</p>
<p>But pursuing action on campus sexual violence through university governing boards, via state and territory governments, poses some challenges. </p>
<p>There are considerable jurisdictional differences in the acts governing universities and state and territory ministers have limited directive powers over university governing bodies. So, seeking nationally consistent responses across both jurisdictions and more than 40 individual institutions could prove difficult. </p>
<h2>Complaints about complaints</h2>
<p>The review team has suggested strengthening the role of the Commonwealth Ombudsman, extending the coverage of this federal government agency to complaints from domestic students. Currently, the agency’s coverage on matters relating to university students is quite limited. </p>
<p>This move could potentially provide a new streamlined avenue for students to make complaints if they have been subjected to sexual violence. </p>
<p>The review team also floated the development of a national student charter to “ensure a consistent national approach to the welfare, safety and wellbeing of all students”. The review noted New Zealand has recently introduced a code of practice on student safety. </p>
<p>If a similar code was developed in Australia, it would need to address the deficiencies of the existing <a href="https://www.teqsa.gov.au/how-we-regulate/higher-education-standards-framework-2021">Higher Education Standards Framework</a> (which forms the basis of current regulation). </p>
<p>Senate estimates figures <a href="https://doi.org/10.26190/unsworks/24894">used in my research</a> show this has not been an effective framework for tackling campus sexual violence. In part, this is because the national higher education regulator, the Tertiary Education Quality and Standards Agency (TEQSA), has been reluctant to employ its regulatory powers against universities in relation to sexual violence.</p>
<h2>What else do we need?</h2>
<p>The potential measures in the interim report are promising but will need to be carefully calibrated to make campuses safe. </p>
<p>Under the current system, TEQSA has “moved to ensure all higher education providers are fostering safe environments”. But <a href="https://theconversation.com/sexual-assault-and-harassment-on-campus-universities-havent-made-reporting-easy-they-need-effective-regulation-179843">my research</a> shows stakeholders are frustrated by the regulator’s “very onerous” complaints mechanisms and ineffective enforcement of regulatory standards. There is still too much onus on individual survivors to drive a complaint.</p>
<p>This is why university student bodies and women’s safety groups <a href="https://www.abc.net.au/news/2023-07-10/australian-unis-failing-to-prevent-sexual-violence/102581600">are calling for</a> a new national, expert-led independent body, which can compel universities to be transparent around incidents and their responses to them. They also want the new body to implement sanctions if needs be. They want this body to be set up immediately. </p>
<p>In its <a href="https://humanrights.gov.au/our-work/sex-discrimination/publications/change-course-national-report-sexual-assault-and-sexual">2017 report</a>, the Human Rights Commission made a series of recommendations to make campuses safer. </p>
<p>This included training for staff and students about respectful and safe behaviour, promoting information about where to report incidents and how to find medical and counselling services. The commission also recommended universities ensure they have adequate and safe processes for students to report a sexual assault or harassment incident. </p>
<p>There is currently mo monitoring mechanism around the implementation of these measures. A new independent body could also oversee this work. </p>
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Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/sexual-assault-and-harassment-on-campus-universities-havent-made-reporting-easy-they-need-effective-regulation-179843">Sexual assault and harassment on campus: universities haven't made reporting easy. They need effective regulation</a>
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<h2>Urgent action still required</h2>
<p>At the National Press Club last week, Education Minister Jason Clare signalled he wanted to see change around sexual violence at universities, noting, “don’t underestimate the seriousness with which I take this or my willingness to act”.</p>
<p>An essential prerequisite for Australia’s higher education sector is that universities and residential colleges can provide a safe environment for their students.</p>
<p>Students, survivors and advocacy groups will be watching this space closely.</p>
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<p><em>If this article has raised issues for you, or if you’re concerned about someone you know, call 1800RESPECT on 1800 737 732. In an emergency, call 000.</em></p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/210057/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Allison Henry was the Campaign Director for The Hunting Ground Australia Project 2015-2018 and in this capacity worked closely with advocate groups referred to in this article. She is an Associate of the Australian Human Rights Institute at UNSW.</span></em></p>The Universities Accord review found ‘sexual assault and harassment on campus is affecting the wellbeing of students and staff, and their ability to succeed’.Dr Allison Henry, Research Fellow, Australian Human Rights Institute, Faculty of Law & Justice, UNSW SydneyLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1798432022-03-24T22:41:00Z2022-03-24T22:41:00ZSexual assault and harassment on campus: universities haven’t made reporting easy. They need effective regulation<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/454070/original/file-20220324-23-1cz44bk.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption"></span> </figcaption></figure><p>A <a href="https://www.nsss.edu.au/">report</a> commissioned by Universities Australia released on Wednesday found one in 20 (4.5%) students had been sexually assaulted since starting at university. </p>
<p>The National Student Safety Survey report also found one in two students (48%) had experienced sexual harassment at least once in their lifetime. One in six (16%) had been sexually harassed since starting their studies, and one in 12 (81%) in the preceding 12 months.</p>
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<p>Chair of Universities Australia, Professor John Dewar <a href="https://www.universitiesaustralia.edu.au/media-item/response-to-the-2021-national-student-safety-survey/">described the findings</a> as “distressing, disappointing and confronting” and said the situation was “unacceptable”.</p>
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Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/1-in-3-uni-students-have-been-sexually-assaulted-in-their-lifetime-they-demand-action-on-their-vision-of-a-safer-society-179367">1 in 3 uni students have been sexually assaulted in their lifetime. They demand action on their vision of a safer society</a>
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<p>Wednesday’s report was the second national survey to explore rates of sexual assault and harassment among university students, following the Australian Human Rights Commission’s landmark <a href="https://humanrights.gov.au/our-work/sex-discrimination/publications/change-course-national-report-sexual-assault-and-sexual">Change the Course</a> report in 2017. </p>
<p>The Change the Course survey found 1.6% of students reported having been sexually assaulted on at least one occasion in 2015 and/or 2016 in a university setting. One in five students (21%) reported having been sexually harassed in a university setting in 2015 and/or 2016.</p>
<p>Changes in methodology and the impact of COVID make it difficult to compare Wednesday’s report with findings in 2017. But it still shows the prevalence of sexual assault and harassment experienced by Australian university students has not markedly shifted.</p>
<p>Universities are this week reiterating many of the same catchphrases as after the 2017 report. They’re taking student feedback “<a href="https://www.canberra.edu.au/safe-community/national-student-safety-survey-2021">very seriously</a>” and adopting a “<a href="https://www.anu.edu.au/news/all-news/anu-makes-major-investment-in-student-safety">zero tolerance</a>” approach to sexual violence. They’re also echoing many of the same commitments they made in 2017. This lack of substantive progress reflects the absence of robust enforcement mechanisms in regulatory oversight.</p>
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<h2>Students lack confidence in their institutions</h2>
<p>The latest report found just 5.6% of students who had experienced sexual assault, and 3% who had experienced sexual harassment had made a formal report or complaint to their university. This is a deterioration from 2016 when the comparable reporting rates were still a troubling 13% and 6% respectively.</p>
<p>Of those who reported sexual assault in 2021, only 29.7% were satisfied with the university’s process. For those reporting sexual harassment, this went up to 41.3%. These figures indicate thousands of students are not seeking out or receiving the support they need following distressing incidents.</p>
<p>More than half of students participating in the survey knew “very little or nothing” about their university’s sexual assault and harassment policies and almost as many knew “nothing or very little” about where they could seek support or assistance within the university. </p>
<p>Submissions to the survey highlighted students’ lack of confidence in university responses and called for greater transparency around reporting avenues and disciplinary action.</p>
<h2>What have universities done?</h2>
<p>Australian universities are autonomous and self-regulating institutions. While they vary in size, resources and appetite to take on this difficult work, they all engage with students experiencing sexual assault and harassment.</p>
<p>Following the 2017 report, <a href="https://www.universitiesaustralia.edu.au/media-item/strong-work-by-unis-and-students-to-prevent-sexual-violence/">Universities Australia said</a> </p>
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<p>[…] universities had instigated 800-plus actions and initiatives targeting sexual violence.</p>
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<p>Universities’ commitments have <a href="https://theconversation.com/universities-have-made-progress-on-responding-to-sexual-assault-but-theres-more-to-be-done-111343">included</a>: independent reviews of university policies, new sexual assault and harassment policies, online reporting tools and confidential data collection, increased respectful relationship and consent education, first responder and bystander training programs, enhanced access to counselling services and increased visibility of support and reporting pathways.</p>
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<p>Some universities have been proactive in reporting on their institutions’ efforts in recent years. For instance UNSW’s <a href="https://www.edi.unsw.edu.au/sites/default/files/documents/Annual%20Report_2020_UNSW%20Sexual%20Misconduct%20Prevention%20&%20Response.pdf">Annual Report on Sexual Misconduct</a> includes information on key institutional actions as well as data recording the status and outcome of each investigation. </p>
<p>But not all universities have been as transparent, and assessing whether universities have actually delivered on their commitments can be incredibly difficult.</p>
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<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/universities-have-made-progress-on-responding-to-sexual-assault-but-theres-more-to-be-done-111343">Universities have made progress on responding to sexual assault, but there's more to be done</a>
</strong>
</em>
</p>
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<p>Given universities’ independent status, Universities Australia has no authority to enforce good practice with their members and has not monitored or evaluated the implementation of their sector-wide <a href="https://www.universitiesaustralia.edu.au/wp-content/uploads/2018/10/UA-Guidelines-5.pdf">guidance or resources</a>.</p>
<h2>What about the university regulator?</h2>
<p>The national higher education regulator, the Tertiary Education Quality Standards Agency (TEQSA) – usually tasked with registering providers and accrediting courses – says it has </p>
<blockquote>
<p>moved to ensure that all higher education providers are fostering safe environments and supporting students in need. </p>
</blockquote>
<p>However my PhD research indicates little support in the sector or among key stakeholders for TEQSA to lead this work. Research participants have suggested the regulator’s efforts have been impeded by resource constraints, insufficient expertise and an apparent reluctance to employ the regulatory tools at its disposal.</p>
<p><div data-react-class="Tweet" data-react-props="{"tweetId":"1506397826921930752"}"></div></p>
<p>TEQSA used a <a href="https://www.teqsa.gov.au/raising-complaint-or-concern">complaints mechanism</a> to investigate scenarios where students believed their university’s policies or procedures had failed them and breached <a href="https://www.teqsa.gov.au/higher-education-standards-framework-2021">legislated standards</a> around well-being and safety. </p>
<p>Senate Estimates information that I’ve collated in my research indicates that this avenue has proven futile for complainants. The regulator investigated 21 such complaints between 2017–2020, mostly relating to universities. But in none did TEQSA find any reason to use its formal powers, such as placing conditions on a university’s registration. The strongest sanction applied by TEQSA has been “monitoring and annual reporting” of several universities. </p>
<p>While the average processing time for these complaints was almost six months, one case lodged by End Rape on Campus Australia in October 2019 was not finalised until June 2021. The organisation subsequently stopped recommending students use TEQSA’s complaints pathway. </p>
<p><div data-react-class="Tweet" data-react-props="{"tweetId":"1453145259588739074"}"></div></p>
<p>In 2019 TEQSA endorsed university efforts to address sexual assault and harassment in a <a href="https://www.teqsa.gov.au/latest-news/publications/report-minister-education-higher-education-sector-response-issue-sexual">report to the education minister</a>, after universities had self-reported their progress to the regulator. But later, in response to Senate Estimates questions on notice, TEQSA acknowledged it was aware of “discrepancies between the self-reported actions and the findings of the independent experts”. </p>
<p>Following this week’s report, TEQSA <a href="https://www.teqsa.gov.au/latest-news/articles/teqsa-statement-national-student-safety-survey-2021">issued a statement</a> saying it was “concerned” about the findings. That it has been monitoring university responses and is encouraging</p>
<blockquote>
<p>[…] all registered providers to review their policies and procedures and ensure that information on sexual assault or sexual harassment prevention and response, including how students can access support services or institutional complaints frameworks, are shared with all their students.</p>
</blockquote>
<p>Like university responses this week, this encouragement simply appears to be more of the same.</p>
<h2>We need effective external oversight</h2>
<p>After the Change the Course report, advocates proposed the establishment of an <a href="https://www.fairagenda.org/taskforce_jointstatement">independent expert-led taskforce</a>. This would have overseen university (and residential college) efforts to better manage and prevent sexual assault and harassment and enhance institutional accountability. </p>
<p>A taskforce, backed by government, could have provided the external leadership and authority to lead this work, but was <a href="https://www.smh.com.au/politics/federal/we-were-so-close-education-minister-shelves-sexual-assault-taskforce-for-universities-20181122-p50hke.html">stymied in late 2018 following a ministerial reshuffle</a>. </p>
<hr>
<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/politicians-need-expert-help-to-change-culture-of-sexual-violence-and-impunity-we-dont-need-yet-another-review-to-tell-us-that-157429">Politicians need expert help to change culture of sexual violence and impunity. We don't need yet another review to tell us that</a>
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</em>
</p>
<hr>
<p>Sex Discrimination Commissioner Kate Jenkins, who led the 2016 survey, has made clear in her response to this week’s report that <a href="https://humanrights.gov.au/about/news/media-statement-release-2021-national-student-safety-survey-report?fbclid=IwAR065mtlrvZPFn26b10Wts5gmIAKx1VBKaVO7cCAyh9oqWPMBFhcFod7t6s">monitoring and accountability will be critical to achieving change</a>. Such monitoring and accountability is not being delivered within the sector, nor by the national regulator. </p>
<p>It’s now time to revisit the taskforce proposal or consider a similar external oversight mechanism.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/179843/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Allison Henry was the Campaign Director for The Hunting Ground Australia Project 2015-2018 and in this capacity worked closely with advocate groups and was involved in the development of the Taskforce proposal referred to in this article. She is an Associate of the Australian Human Rights Institute at UNSW.</span></em></p>The latest report on sexual harassment and assault at universities found students don’t have confidence in reporting processes. Australian universities need an external regulator to oversee these.Dr Allison Henry, PhD candidate, Faculty of Law & Justice, UNSW SydneyLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1793672022-03-23T02:42:57Z2022-03-23T02:42:57Z1 in 3 uni students have been sexually assaulted in their lifetime. They demand action on their vision of a safer society<p>One in three university students (30.6%) have experienced sexual assault at least once in their lifetime. This is one finding from the 2021 National Student Safety Survey (NSSS) report, <a href="https://www.nsss.edu.au/">released today</a>.</p>
<p>The survey responses from 43,819 students enrolled in 38 Australian universities, as well as written responses from 1,835 current and former students, demonstrate the extent and impacts of sexual violence in and beyond the higher education sector.</p>
<p>The survey also found one in 20 (4.5%) had been sexually assaulted in a university context since starting their studies. In the 12 months preceding the survey, 1.4% of women and 0.6% of men reported experiencing sexual assault in a university context. </p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/452733/original/file-20220317-17-1i1khzt.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="Chart showing rates of sexual assault and sexual harassment reported by university students" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/452733/original/file-20220317-17-1i1khzt.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/452733/original/file-20220317-17-1i1khzt.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/452733/original/file-20220317-17-1i1khzt.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/452733/original/file-20220317-17-1i1khzt.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/452733/original/file-20220317-17-1i1khzt.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/452733/original/file-20220317-17-1i1khzt.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/452733/original/file-20220317-17-1i1khzt.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption"></span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Chart: The Conversation. Data: Author provided</span>, <a class="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/">CC BY</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>Rates of sexual harassment were much higher. One in two students (48.0%) had experienced it at least once. One in six (16.1%) had been sexually harassed in a university context since starting their studies, and one in 12 (8.1%) in the preceding 12 months. </p>
<h2>Sexual violence reflects patterns of inequality</h2>
<p>Universities Australia funded the survey under the <a href="https://www.universitiesaustralia.edu.au/project/respect-now-always/">Respect Now Always</a> initiative. It builds on a legacy of previous work, including the Australian Human Rights Commission’s 2016 <a href="https://humanrights.gov.au/our-work/executive-summary-8">national survey</a> of university students on sexual assault and sexual harassment. That led to its 2017 report, <a href="https://humanrights.gov.au/sites/default/files/document/publication/AHRC_2017_ChangeTheCourse_UniversityReport.pdf">Change the Course</a>.</p>
<hr>
<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/change-the-course-set-out-to-end-sexual-violence-and-harassment-on-campus-5-years-on-unis-still-have-work-to-do-179108">'Change the Course' set out to end sexual violence and harassment on campus. 5 years on, unis still have work to do</a>
</strong>
</em>
</p>
<hr>
<p>The 2021 survey also explored student attitudes and knowledge about sexual violence and reporting processes, establishing a benchmark against which universities can measure their progress into the future.</p>
<p>The past two years however have been a time of COVID lockdowns – and it’s likely this impacted on the 12 month results of sexual harassment and assault in university contexts. Only a third of students (33.6%) in the 2021 survey said they had been able to take part in some or all of their classes on campus. It is also worth noting <a href="https://www.nsss.edu.au/about">improvements to the survey methodology</a> mean the 2021 prevalence results are not directly comparable with the 2016 results. </p>
<p>Nonetheless the 2021 data still suggest about two students in a tutorial class of 25 would have been sexually harassed or assaulted in a university context at least once in the preceding 12 months. </p>
<hr>
<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/rape-sexual-assault-and-sexual-harassment-whats-the-difference-93411">Rape, sexual assault and sexual harassment: what’s the difference?</a>
</strong>
</em>
</p>
<hr>
<p>That is no small problem. </p>
<p>And it is not an evenly spread problem either. Much like the 2016 survey, rates were highest for students who were women, non-binary gender or transgender, sexuality diverse, disclosed a disability or were younger (18 to 21 years).</p>
<h2>It happens on and off campus, and is rarely reported</h2>
<p>For sexual violence on campus, we can expect universities to be responsible for ensuring a just and timely response, and to take action to prevent these harms. Many of the instances of sexual harassment and sexual assault that impacted people most, as reported in the 2021 survey, did happen in settings such as lectures and classes, libraries, clubs and events, and student accommodation. </p>
<p>But, of course, not all such experiences were on campus. As is the case in society more generally, sexual assault in particular often happened in private homes or residences. </p>
<p>Whether on or off campus, though, a majority of perpetrators were known to the victim through their university. This has significant implications for victim-survivors’ safety and well-being in their ongoing studies.</p>
<p>It is also telling that one in two students who responded to the survey said they knew little or nothing about their university’s reporting or complaint processes.</p>
<p>Overall, few students, about one in 20, formally reported the experience that impacted them most to their university. Many thought it would be too hard to prove, or that they wouldn’t be taken seriously. </p>
<hr>
<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/university-students-arent-reporting-sexual-assault-and-new-guidelines-dont-address-why-100322">University students aren't reporting sexual assault, and new guidelines don't address why</a>
</strong>
</em>
</p>
<hr>
<h2>Universities have a particular duty to act</h2>
<p>Sexual violence is a <a href="https://www.equalitynow.org/news_and_insights/addressing_rape_human_rights_violation/">human rights issue</a>, and one Australia has committed to addressing through our <a href="https://engage.dss.gov.au/draft-national-plan-to-end-violence-against-women-and-children-2022-2032/">national policy plans</a> and <a href="https://www.ourwatch.org.au/change-the-story/">prevention frameworks</a>.</p>
<p>Our universities have a crucial role to play in responding to sexual violence. Whether it happens on campus or elsewhere, universities can help ensure victim-survivors are supported to feel safe in continuing their studies – rather than bearing the impacts of sexual violence alone. </p>
<p>Yet universities also have a role in preventing sexual violence through addressing the inequality and discrimination that fosters these harms.</p>
<p>Some efforts, such as the <a href="https://media-cdn.ourwatch.org.au/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2021/03/03162916/1.1-Educating-for-Equality.pdf">Educating for Equality</a> initiative, have begun to be implemented. But clearly, more needs to be done.</p>
<hr>
<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/were-still-playing-catch-up-with-academias-longstanding-metoo-sexual-harassment-problem-93852">We're still playing catch up with academia's longstanding #MeToo sexual harassment problem</a>
</strong>
</em>
</p>
<hr>
<h2>Students have a vision for change</h2>
<p>University students themselves have a clear vision of the role of universities to address and prevent sexual violence. </p>
<p>Through the 2021 research they called for more transparent reporting processes, as well as awareness campaigns so students know what sexual violence is and how to report it or seek help. They wanted visible and proportionate disciplinary action for perpetrators to show universities take such reports seriously. And they wanted properly resourced supports for victim-survivors. </p>
<p>Beyond this, students called for universities to work collaboratively with victim-survivor advocates, and take a more active role in promoting equality and respect on their campuses and beyond. </p>
<p>The 2021 NSSS research tells us sexual violence remains a problem and students are demanding action. </p>
<p>What remains is for universities to demonstrate they are fully implementing and funding the necessary actions – and in doing so, to ensure no institution is left behind. </p>
<hr>
<p><em>The author acknowledges the contributions of the <a href="https://www.srcentre.com.au/">Social Research Centre</a> as the lead organisation on the 2021 NSSS reports. In particular, acknowledgement is made to Dr Paul Myers and Dr Wendy Heywood.</em></p>
<p><em>If this article has raised issues for you, or if you’re concerned about someone you know, call 1800RESPECT on 1800 737 732. In immediate danger, call 000.</em></p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/179367/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Anastasia Powell receives funding from the Criminology Research Council and Australia's National Research Organisation for Women's Safety (ANROWS). Anastasia is also a director of Our Watch (Australia's national organisation for the prevention of violence against women), and a member of the National Women's Safety Alliance (NWSA). She was a commissioned researcher on the National Student Safety Survey reports.</span></em></p>Today’s students are part of a generation demanding society-wide change in the culture that perpetuates sexual violence, and the students expect their universities to lead the way.Anastasia Powell, Associate Professor, Criminology and Justice Studies, RMIT UniversityLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1702582021-12-05T12:55:08Z2021-12-05T12:55:08ZThe long fight against sexual assault and harassment at universities<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/432015/original/file-20211115-27-eblbnh.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=14%2C71%2C1982%2C1140&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Protestors attend a 2013 rally at Saint Mary's University in Halifax to express concerns over a chant that promoted rape culture. </span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source"> THE CANADIAN PRESS/Andrew Vaughan </span></span></figcaption></figure><iframe style="width: 100%; height: 175px; border: none; position: relative; z-index: 1;" allowtransparency="" src="https://narrations.ad-auris.com/widget/the-conversation-canada/the-long-fight-against-sexual-assault-and-harassment-at-universities" width="100%" height="400"></iframe>
<p>With the return to university campuses this fall, there have been disturbing reports of both sexual assaults and sexist incidents.</p>
<p>At Western University, for example, <a href="https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/london/western-campus-sexual-violence-reports-1.6173443">four students reported being sexually assaulted</a> and there was mass student mobilization following social media reports of numerous sexual assaults at a residence. Police say while <a href="https://globalnews.ca/news/8236496/london-police-sexual-assault-drugging-western-university-evidence">they have been unable to confirm social media accounts</a> about students being drugged and assaulted in a university residence, the investigation remains open. Advocates say <a href="https://lfpress.com/news/local-news/analysis-how-social-media-blew-the-lid-off-alleged-sexual-violence-at-western">social media has urgently revealed a larger problem that victims are often reluctant to formally</a> report.</p>
<p>During <a href="https://www.kingstonist.com/news/community-dismayed-by-displays-of-misogyny-rape-culture-during-queens-homecoming/">homecoming at Queen’s University</a>, messages flew from the windows of two student houses that read: “Western guys wish they were Pfizer so they can get inside her” and “Lock up your daughters, not Kingston.” </p>
<p>With our colleague Jeremy Istead, we recently examined how the fight against sexual harassment and sexual assault at Ontario universities goes back <a href="https://doi.org/10.32316/hse-rhe.v33i1.4895">to at least the late 1970s</a>. We examined archival materials related to advocacy against sexual harassment, focused on the years from 1979 to 1994, to show how women demanded that universities adopt policies and procedures to combat sexual harassment. From the very beginning, some of these activists were women of colour who spoke out about sexual harassment and racism.</p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="Poster shows 'not now means no' and other ways of saying no in large purple font against a black background." src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/435403/original/file-20211202-18585-wwnj0t.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/435403/original/file-20211202-18585-wwnj0t.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=454&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/435403/original/file-20211202-18585-wwnj0t.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=454&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/435403/original/file-20211202-18585-wwnj0t.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=454&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/435403/original/file-20211202-18585-wwnj0t.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=570&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/435403/original/file-20211202-18585-wwnj0t.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=570&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/435403/original/file-20211202-18585-wwnj0t.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=570&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Detail from poster at University of Toronto seen in 2007.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">(Robert Jack 啸风 Will/Flickr)</span>, <a class="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/">CC BY</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<h2>Shifting legal ground</h2>
<p>Women have <a href="https://press.uchicago.edu/ucp/books/book/chicago/I/bo3627292.html">long experienced unwanted sexual advances</a> — and women who are <a href="https://library.oapen.org/bitstream/handle/20.500.12657/33236/530011.pdf?sequence=1&isAllowed=y">vulnerable because of racism, colonialism, poverty or living circumstances</a> are more likely to experience harassment and assault.</p>
<p>The term “sexual harassment” was coined in 1975, when feminists in Ithaca, N.Y., gathered to support a university administrator who had resigned because of a faculty member’s persistent sexual advances. The group issued a press release condemning “<a href="https://www.cambridge.org/core/books/womens-movement-against-sexual-harassment/74881C13993E1EC38B8024216CD786E1">sexual harassment</a>” — the first recorded use of this term. </p>
<p>The movement quickly spread across the United States and Canada. In 1977, <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2017/11/05/us/sexual-harrasment-weinstein-trump.html"><em>Ms. Magazine</em></a> highlighted the problem with a dramatic cover, showing a photo illustration of a boss with his hand groping his secretary’s breast. </p>
<p>In Canada, <a href="https://www.constancebackhouse.ca/index.php?id=9">legal studies scholar Constance Backhouse</a> and <a href="https://www.theglobeandmail.com/life/leah-cohen/article18145331/">writer Leah Cohen</a> published <a href="https://books.google.ca/books/about/The_Secret_Oppression.html?id=zqM_AAAAMAAJ&redir_esc=y"><em>The Secret Oppression: Sexual Harassment of Working Women</em></a> in 1978. </p>
<p>The book featured seven case studies. One was a graduate student whose supervisor unexpectedly showed up at her house, showered her with poems and kissed her without permission. </p>
<p>Also in 1978, the University of Ottawa fired professor Rudi Strickler for his repeated harassment of a female student. While this wasn’t the first case of sexual harassment at a Canadian university, it was the first case that received wide publicity.</p>
<figure class="align-left ">
<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/435413/original/file-20211202-21691-1sbytlv.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=237&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/435413/original/file-20211202-21691-1sbytlv.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=755&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/435413/original/file-20211202-21691-1sbytlv.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=755&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/435413/original/file-20211202-21691-1sbytlv.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=755&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/435413/original/file-20211202-21691-1sbytlv.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=948&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/435413/original/file-20211202-21691-1sbytlv.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=948&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/435413/original/file-20211202-21691-1sbytlv.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=948&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Norma Bowen served as president of the Ontario Confederation of University Faculty Associations in 1973 - 1974.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">(Ontario Confederation of University Faculty Associations)</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>University of Guelph psychology <a href="https://cwrc.ca/norma-bowen">professor Norma Bowen</a> also gave speeches at universities across Canada on sexual harassment in 1980 and 1981. Bowen had researched the racial implications of police hiring and was working on a book on sexual harassment when she passed away in 1986. </p>
<p>The campaign to eliminate sexual harassment quickly gained legal support. In 1980, an Ontario human rights tribunal ruled that sexual harassment was a violation of the Ontario Human Rights Code. In 1985, the federal government prohibited sexual harassment under the <a href="https://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers.cfm?abstract_id=2268095">Human Rights Act</a>. </p>
<h2>University advocacy</h2>
<p>In April 1980, York University established a presidential advisory committee on sexual harassment, the first Ontario university to create such a commission. <a href="https://books.google.ca/books/about/York_University.html?id=APhWY8BRgWkC&source=kp_book_description&redir_esc=y">Established in 1959, York</a> was a young university. Its youthful faculty and activist student body made it a hotbed of feminist organizing. </p>
<figure class="align-right ">
<img alt="A woman is seen smiling with a giraffe behind her." src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/435417/original/file-20211202-23-rad33v.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=237&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/435417/original/file-20211202-23-rad33v.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=651&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/435417/original/file-20211202-23-rad33v.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=651&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/435417/original/file-20211202-23-rad33v.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=651&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/435417/original/file-20211202-23-rad33v.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=818&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/435417/original/file-20211202-23-rad33v.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=818&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/435417/original/file-20211202-23-rad33v.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=818&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Scientist Anne Innis Dagg.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">(Wikimedia Commons)</span>, <a class="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/">CC BY</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>York had been among the first universities to establish a women’s centre and create women’s studies courses. York became the first university to introduce a sexual harassment policy. Other universities quickly followed suit.</p>
<p>In the late 1980s, women activists expanded their efforts to change the sexist climate that existed at Ontario Universities. </p>
<p>In 1988, Anne Innis Dagg, a <a href="https://www.utoronto.ca/news/renowned-zoologist-anne-innis-dagg-woman-who-loves-giraffes-receives-honorary-degree">zoologist</a> and <a href="https://www.thecanadianencyclopedia.ca/en/article/anne-innis-dagg">feminist activist</a> <a href="https://www.ctvnews.ca/w5/the-giant-among-giraffes-the-legacy-of-canadian-biologist-anne-innis-dagg-1.5296084#:%7E:text=But%20despite%20a%20stellar%20record,Canada%20were%20held%20by%20women">who has spoken publicly about facing gender discrimination</a> in her work and in universities, published <a href="https://books.google.ca/books/about/MisEducation.html?id=FURQAQAAIAAJ&redir_esc=y"><em>MisEducation: Women and Canadian Universities</em></a>, detailing the sexism female students faced.</p>
<p>Dagg described engineering students at a University of Toronto orientation event simulating the rape of a doll with a beer bottle and a McGill fraternity that circulated a poster of a woman who appeared to be enjoying a gang rape.</p>
<figure class="align-left ">
<img alt="A button from Congress of Black Women of Canada showing silhouettes of Black women in a row" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/435399/original/file-20211202-17-q0wbpu.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=237&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/435399/original/file-20211202-17-q0wbpu.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=554&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/435399/original/file-20211202-17-q0wbpu.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=554&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/435399/original/file-20211202-17-q0wbpu.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=554&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/435399/original/file-20211202-17-q0wbpu.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=697&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/435399/original/file-20211202-17-q0wbpu.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=697&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/435399/original/file-20211202-17-q0wbpu.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=697&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">1987 button from the Congress of Black Women of Canada.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://archives.library.yorku.ca/items/show/4079.">(York University Libraries/Clara Thomas Archives & Special Collections online exhibits)</a>, <a class="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/">CC BY</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>In 1989, Fleurette Osborne, the first <a href="https://www.mcgill.ca/channels/channels/news/death-fleurette-osborne-community-activist-and-founding-president-black-women-canada-303547">National President of the Congress of Black Women of Canada</a> and <a href="https://www.crrf-fcrr.ca/en/resources/clearinghouse/21-gu/1212-gu-os15-2008">an anti-racism activist</a>, published a condemnation of the racism and sexual harassment women of colour faced on university campuses in the CAUT bulletin. </p>
<p>That same year, mainstream media reported on the sexist climate on university campuses when male students at a Queen’s University residence put up signs mocking a “no means no” campaign. The signs read “no means maybe,” “no means have another beer,” “no means tie me up” and “no means kick her in the teeth.” </p>
<h2>Culture of misogyny</h2>
<p>Despite calls for the perpetrators be punished, the Queen’s main campus residence council decided that it would be unfair to punish a few students when a larger group was probably involved. </p>
<p><a href="https://www.mqup.ca/queen-s-university--volume-iii--1961-2004-products-9780773546967.php">A new group, The Radical Obnoxious Fucking Feminists</a>, responded by painting “no means no” all over campus and sending letters to the parents of the men involved. About 30 women, wearing scarves to hide their identity, <a href="https://www.queensu.ca/gazette/alumnireview/stories/no-now-really-does-mean-no">occupied the principal’s office to protest the administration’s lack of action</a>. </p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="Black and white photo of tape stuck to a brick wall that says no means tie me up." src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/432057/original/file-20211115-23-1ia824b.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/432057/original/file-20211115-23-1ia824b.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=385&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/432057/original/file-20211115-23-1ia824b.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=385&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/432057/original/file-20211115-23-1ia824b.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=385&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/432057/original/file-20211115-23-1ia824b.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=483&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/432057/original/file-20211115-23-1ia824b.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=483&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/432057/original/file-20211115-23-1ia824b.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=483&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">A taped sign seen outside a window at Queen’s University reads, ‘No means tie me up.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">(The Queen's Journal)</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>The principal established a working group on gender issues, which recommended cracking down on a variety of sexist traditions and rituals at Queen’s such as rugby songs with pro-rape lyrics and the “slut of the week” feature in a student newspaper. These recommendations would all be approved by senate the following year. </p>
<p>A month after the events at Queen’s, <a href="https://www.thecanadianencyclopedia.ca/en/article/polytechnique-tragedy">the murder of 14 women</a> at Montréal’s École Polytechnique by a man who blamed feminists for his failures, made the culture of misogyny shockingly evident.</p>
<hr>
<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/less-talk-more-action-national-day-of-remembrance-on-violence-against-women-108139">Less talk, more action: National Day of Remembrance on Violence Against Women</a>
</strong>
</em>
</p>
<hr>
<h2>1993 guidelines</h2>
<p>In 1993, the provincial government released guidelines requiring universities to enact policies that would address “an offensive, hostile or intimidating climate for study or work.” </p>
<p>These guidelines were partly in response to <a href="https://www.siu.on.ca/pdfs/report_of_the_advisor_on_race_relations_to_the_premier_of_ontario_bob_rae.pdf">a 1992 report by the province’s advisor on race relations</a>, Stephen Lewis, former NDP provincial party leader, delivered to Bob Rae’s NDP government. The report named anti-Black racism as a particular problem and called for universities to make their boards representative, to train more “visible minority” teachers and to adopt anti-discrimination measures. </p>
<p>The government eventually withdrew these guidelines, but a number of universities changed their policies. </p>
<h2>Creating safer campuses</h2>
<p>As recent events show, sexual harassment at Ontario universities has not gone away, despite decades of women’s activism. </p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="Some students including women who are white and brown, and one woman wearing a hijab, are seen in a line are seen under a signs that say 'we believe you' and 'we are here for you.'" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/435180/original/file-20211201-27-yf43jw.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/435180/original/file-20211201-27-yf43jw.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/435180/original/file-20211201-27-yf43jw.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/435180/original/file-20211201-27-yf43jw.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/435180/original/file-20211201-27-yf43jw.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/435180/original/file-20211201-27-yf43jw.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/435180/original/file-20211201-27-yf43jw.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Western University students demonstrate during a walkout in support of sexual assault survivors, in London, Ont., Sept. 17, 2021.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">THE CANADIAN PRESS/Nicole Osborne</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p><a href="https://ontariosuniversities.ca/student-voices-on-sexual-violence-survey">A 2018 survey</a> showed that over 60 per cent of Ontario university students experienced sexual harassment one or more times. Journalist <a href="https://www.penguinrandomhouse.ca/books/605288/they-said-this-would-be-fun-by-eternity-martis/9780771062209">Eternity Martis’s</a> account of her years at Western shows how widespread sexual harassment continues to be, and how Black and racialized women face additional barriers of racism. </p>
<p>Faculty, administrators and students must act now to create safe, harassment-free campuses.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/170258/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>The authors do not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and have disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>The struggle against sexual harassment and sexual assault at Ontario universities goes back to the 1970s.Catherine Carstairs, Professor, Department of History, University of GuelphKathryn Hughes, Research assistant, Department of History, University of GuelphLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1638802021-07-08T20:09:49Z2021-07-08T20:09:49ZDon’t just blame the Libs for treating universities harshly. Labor’s 1980s policies ushered in government interference<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/410252/original/file-20210708-25-1m788ix.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Robert Menzies established a 'buffer body' between government and universities.</span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.shutterstock.com/image-photo/melbourne-australia-may-25-2014-robert-194823248">Shutterstock</a></span></figcaption></figure><p>Universities struggle to understand why the government doesn’t love them. </p>
<p>Since COVID, universities have lost billions of dollars and shed over <a href="https://www.universitiesaustralia.edu.au/media-item/17000-uni-jobs-lost-to-covid-19/">17,000 staff</a>. The government <a href="https://theconversation.com/why-is-the-australian-government-letting-universities-suffer-138514">excluded them from Jobseeker</a>, which threatened their viability for teaching and research. </p>
<p>Universities train everyone from primary teachers to corporate bankers. Until recently, universities were the country’s <a href="https://www.rba.gov.au/publications/bulletin/2008/jun/pdf/bu-0608-2.pdf">third largest exporter</a>. Their research underpins economic innovation and COVID recovery. </p>
<p>So why has the government been letting them suffer?</p>
<p>It may be as simple, journalist George Megalogenis argued in <a href="https://www.quarterlyessay.com.au/">the most recent Quarterly Essay</a>, as a harsh dating maxim. The government is just not that into them.</p>
<p><div data-react-class="Tweet" data-react-props="{"tweetId":"1410450972158029826"}"></div></p>
<p>It was this problem that led the founders of Australia’s higher education sector to build institutions to protect the truthfulness of academic research, the rigour and openness of scholarly debate and the standards applied to learning and teaching. They were not perfect, but it is worth understanding them.</p>
<h2>Why does the government hate universities?</h2>
<p>Some, like <a href="https://www.quarterlyessay.com.au">Megalogenis, believe</a> the Morrison government identifies its job as being re-elected rather than governing. And so politicians see universities as <a href="https://theconversation.com/why-is-the-australian-government-letting-universities-suffer-138514">ideological opponents</a> rather than manufacturers of ideas and educated workers. </p>
<p>Debates around <a href="https://world.edu/how-a-fake-free-speech-crisis-could-imperil-academic-freedom/">free speech and religious freedom</a> suggest Morrison may have little personal sympathy for the values associated with secular institutions committed to academic freedom. </p>
<hr>
<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/theres-no-need-for-the-chicago-principles-in-australian-universities-to-protect-freedom-of-speech-107001">There's no need for the 'Chicago principles' in Australian universities to protect freedom of speech</a>
</strong>
</em>
</p>
<hr>
<p>The free speech issue is based on claims some conservative ideas are being “cancelled” on campus. One of these was sex therapist Bettina Arndt’s <a href="https://www.sbs.com.au/news/the-feed/do-the-stats-back-up-the-narrative-of-a-rape-crisis-on-campus">lecture series</a>, which attracted student protests when she argued, <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/australia-news/2017/aug/01/sexual-assault-report-universities-called-on-to-act-on-damning-figures">contrary to reports</a>, that women are not in fact at risk of rape on campus. </p>
<p>After these protests, in November 2018, The <a href="https://www.theage.com.au/politics/federal/former-high-court-chief-robert-french-to-lead-inquiry-into-free-speech-on-campus-20181113-p50ft1.html">Morrison government asked</a> former High Court chief justice Robert French to lead an inquiry into free speech on university campuses.</p>
<p><div data-react-class="Tweet" data-react-props="{"tweetId":"1364790845426135045"}"></div></p>
<h2>Menzies protected unis from government</h2>
<p>It was Liberal Prime Minister Robert Menzies — who served his second term from 1949 to 1966 — who created a funding system for universities. In fact, his reforms shaped Australian higher education.</p>
<p>He insisted there should be some protection for universities from political interference.</p>
<p>In the middle of the Cold War, which began as the second world war came to a close, university independence was a key distinction between democracies and authoritarian countries. Cruel and unethical Nazi science and false and misleading Soviet research had revealed the risk of leaving university funding in the hands of politicians.</p>
<hr>
<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/why-is-the-australian-government-letting-universities-suffer-138514">Why is the Australian government letting universities suffer?</a>
</strong>
</em>
</p>
<hr>
<p>The inquiry <a href="https://www.voced.edu.au/content/ngv%3A53782">Menzies commissioned</a> in 1957 wrote in its report that even at “inconvenient moments”:</p>
<blockquote>
<p>a good university is the best guarantee that […]somebody, whatever the circumstances, will continue to seek the truth and make it known.</p>
</blockquote>
<p>The result was the Australian Universities Commission. This was a statutory body which made recommendations to the Commonwealth government for funding to individual institutions. It was known as a “buffer body”, intended to protect higher education from capricious politics.</p>
<p>Menzies saw <a href="https://aph.org.au/2017/11/university-autonomy-and-the-public-interest/">non-democratic universities</a> overseas were a disservice to their nation’s agricultural systems, cultural and literary traditions and political-economic agility. </p>
<figure>
<iframe width="440" height="260" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/L9NHrVlLzxE?wmode=transparent&start=0" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen=""></iframe>
</figure>
<p>It was not that Australian politicians in the 1950s were particularly averse to universities. But the risk of political interference was clear in the heightened global climate, and Menzies was determined to put in a structure to promote “democratic freedom”.</p>
<h2>The ALP dismantled the protections</h2>
<p>In the 1980s, Bob Hawke’s Labor government minister John Dawkins expanded higher education as the foundation for economic reform. This led to an overhaul of the underlying structure, and financial support that was established in the 1950s. </p>
<figure class="align-right zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/410254/original/file-20210708-15-e6frie.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="John Gawkins" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/410254/original/file-20210708-15-e6frie.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=237&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/410254/original/file-20210708-15-e6frie.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=886&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/410254/original/file-20210708-15-e6frie.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=886&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/410254/original/file-20210708-15-e6frie.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=886&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/410254/original/file-20210708-15-e6frie.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=1113&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/410254/original/file-20210708-15-e6frie.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=1113&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/410254/original/file-20210708-15-e6frie.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=1113&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Hawke government minister John Dawkins dismantled the university buffer body.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_Dawkins#/media/File:John-Dawkins-1984.jpg">Wikimedia Commons</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>Among these reforms was the dismantling of the buffer body. Bureaucratic leaders like <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20050620020414/http://www.assa.edu.au/Directory/listall.asp?id=161">Peter Karmel</a> warned Dawkins at the time this was dangerous. </p>
<p>But Dawkins did not think it mattered, likely imagining other politicians, like him, would want a good university system.</p>
<h2>Universities have no buffer now</h2>
<p>The Dawkins reforms pushed universities to increased commercial behaviour. Academic leadership was replaced by corporate-style management. In time, university leaders earned <a href="https://theconversation.com/how-australian-vice-chancellors-pay-came-to-average-1-million-and-why-its-a-problem-150829">CEO-level salaries</a> and bonuses. Although these were based on levels of productivity achieved by very low wages paid to casual academics, governments believed these salaries showed universities had money to spare.</p>
<hr>
<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/how-australian-vice-chancellors-pay-came-to-average-1-million-and-why-its-a-problem-150829">How Australian vice-chancellors' pay came to average $1 million and why it's a problem</a>
</strong>
</em>
</p>
<hr>
<p>Such beliefs have allowed politicians to behave ungenerously towards universities. With no buffer body to stop them, politicians are free to take out petty grievances such as <a href="https://www.sbs.com.au/news/shock-and-dismay-over-short-sighted-policy-that-will-double-the-cost-of-arts-degrees">increasing the cost of some humanities degrees</a>. They are also free to appease small interest groups, like adherents of <a href="https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1080/13504630.2020.1787822?journalCode=csid20">far-right conspiracy theories</a> who believe cultural Marxists are destroying Western civilisation.</p>
<p><div data-react-class="Tweet" data-react-props="{"tweetId":"1143059382185316352"}"></div></p>
<p>This risks the integrity of the higher education system Robert Menzies built. He wanted universities to be <a href="https://aph.org.au/2017/11/university-autonomy-and-the-public-interest/">democratic institutions</a>. </p>
<p>In the Cold War context, Australian universities were built to be relatively immune to the vagaries and vested interests of political leaders. They were not perfectly protected, as <a href="https://doi.org/10.5263/labourhistory.98.1.183">generations of left-wing scholars found</a>. Nevertheless, it was harder than it is today to impede higher education’s work towards the research and training we need.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/163880/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Hannah Forsyth has received funding from the Australian Research Council. She is a member of her local Branch Committee of the National Tertiary Education Union.</span></em></p><p class="fine-print"><em><span>Geoffrey Sherington does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>Liberal Prime Minister Robert Menzies insisted universities should have protection from political interference. But Bob Hawke’s education minister John Dawkins dismantled these protections.Hannah Forsyth, Senior Lecturer in History, Australian Catholic UniversityGeoffrey Sherington, Emeritus Professor, University of SydneyLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1574292021-03-29T19:06:02Z2021-03-29T19:06:02ZPoliticians need expert help to change culture of sexual violence and impunity. We don’t need yet another review to tell us that<p>Allegations of sexual assault and harassment in the nation’s corridors of power once again reveal two consistent features of this conduct: a culture that enables such behaviour, and a high degree of impunity that invites its recurrence. University campus culture was similarly in the spotlight following the release of damning reports in 2017. The lesson to be drawn here is that while these reports led to several practical changes (necessary as they are), what is now called for is transformative change.</p>
<p>Two recent cases highlight the challenges of overcoming deeply entrenched systemic problems in Australian institutions.</p>
<figure class="align-right zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/392122/original/file-20210329-17-1xdptj.PNG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="Cover of Change the Course report" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/392122/original/file-20210329-17-1xdptj.PNG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=237&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/392122/original/file-20210329-17-1xdptj.PNG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=801&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/392122/original/file-20210329-17-1xdptj.PNG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=801&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/392122/original/file-20210329-17-1xdptj.PNG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=801&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/392122/original/file-20210329-17-1xdptj.PNG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=1007&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/392122/original/file-20210329-17-1xdptj.PNG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=1007&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/392122/original/file-20210329-17-1xdptj.PNG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=1007&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Change the Course was a landmark report for Australian universities.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://humanrights.gov.au/our-work/sex-discrimination/publications/change-course-national-report-sexual-assault-and-sexual">AHRC 2017</a>, <a class="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/">CC BY</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>Last August, a former Australian National University student successfully <a href="https://www.abc.net.au/news/2020-08-07/former-anu-student-sues-johns-college-over-sexual-assault/12534596">sued a university residential college</a>. She did this after five years of seeking acknowledgement of some responsibility and redress for an alleged sexual assault by a male student following a John XXIII College “hazing ritual”. To date, no criminal charges have been brought. </p>
<p>In civil proceedings, the ACT Supreme Court found the college had condoned a “hard-drinking” culture “as a badge of honour”. It had also failed in its duty of care to the complainant by mishandling her allegations. The court found several dismissive comments by the head of the college were “entirely inappropriate” and “a massive departure from the pastoral duty of care [he] had”. </p>
<hr>
<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/brutal-rituals-of-hazing-wont-go-away-and-unis-are-increasingly-likely-to-be-held-responsible-147849">Brutal rituals of hazing won't go away — and unis are increasingly likely to be held responsible</a>
</strong>
</em>
</p>
<hr>
<p>A 2019 workplace investigation commissioned by the University of Melbourne found a senior academic had sexually harassed a young woman colleague in breach of the university’s workplace behaviour policy. The internationally renowned academic, who denied the allegations, has <a href="https://www.theage.com.au/national/victoria/melbourne-uni-allowed-sexual-harasser-professor-to-keep-jobs-20210317-p57bmm.html">retained his role</a>, although the vice-chancellor this month declared sexual harassment “has no place at our university or in society”. The university would not reveal what action, if any, it has taken against him.</p>
<h2>What came out of the university reviews?</h2>
<p>A three-year <a href="https://www.humanrights.unsw.edu.au/news/strengthening-australian-university-responses-sexual-assault-and-harassment">research project</a>, begun in 2015, investigated how to strengthen Australian university responses to sexual assault and harassment. It included the first national student survey about these problems. </p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/392118/original/file-20210329-15-1i55cks.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="Chart showing rates and locations of sexual assault and harassment of university students" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/392118/original/file-20210329-15-1i55cks.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/392118/original/file-20210329-15-1i55cks.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=842&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/392118/original/file-20210329-15-1i55cks.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=842&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/392118/original/file-20210329-15-1i55cks.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=842&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/392118/original/file-20210329-15-1i55cks.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=1058&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/392118/original/file-20210329-15-1i55cks.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=1058&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/392118/original/file-20210329-15-1i55cks.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=1058&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption"></span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://humanrights.gov.au/our-work/sex-discrimination/publications/change-course-national-report-sexual-assault-and-sexual">Australian Human Rights Commission 2017</a>, <a class="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/">CC BY</a></span>
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<p>The project led to the release of two reports in 2017. The reports were <a href="https://humanrights.gov.au/sites/default/files/document/publication/AHRC_2017_ChangeTheCourse_UniversityReport.pdf">Change the Course</a> by the Australian Human Rights Commission and <a href="https://www.humanrights.unsw.edu.au/sites/default/files/inline-files/AHR0002_On_Safe_Ground_Good_Practice_Guide_online.pdf">On Safe Ground</a> by the Australian Human Rights Centre (now Institute) at UNSW. </p>
<p>These reports provided analyses of the survey data, comparative research on international university good practice, and recommendations for universities, residential colleges, the Tertiary Education Quality and Standards Agency (TEQSA) and government. </p>
<p>Since then, <a href="https://humanrights.gov.au/our-work/sex-discrimination/audit-2017">several</a> <a href="https://humanrights.gov.au/our-work/sex-discrimination/audit-2018">reviews</a> of university responses by the Australian Human Rights Commission and <a href="https://www.teqsa.gov.au/latest-news/publications/report-minister-education-higher-education-sector-response-issue-sexual">another</a> by TEQSA suggest Australian universities have, in the main, acted on these recommendations. They have:</p>
<ul>
<li><p>implemented policies and mechanisms to better capture reports of student sexual misconduct</p></li>
<li><p>trained staff and student representatives in how to manage disclosures of sexual assault and harassment</p></li>
<li><p>provided counselling services (or engaged external sexual assault service providers)</p></li>
<li><p>conducted consent/respectful relationship training</p></li>
<li><p>developed student apps with links to support services and campus security. </p></li>
</ul>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/392107/original/file-20210329-19-1q5cudt.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="Chart showing who experiences and who perpetrates sexual assault and harassment at university and proportion of incidents that are reported" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/392107/original/file-20210329-19-1q5cudt.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/392107/original/file-20210329-19-1q5cudt.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=842&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/392107/original/file-20210329-19-1q5cudt.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=842&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/392107/original/file-20210329-19-1q5cudt.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=842&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/392107/original/file-20210329-19-1q5cudt.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=1058&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/392107/original/file-20210329-19-1q5cudt.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=1058&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/392107/original/file-20210329-19-1q5cudt.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=1058&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption"></span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://humanrights.gov.au/our-work/sex-discrimination/publications/change-course-national-report-sexual-assault-and-sexual">Australian Human Rights Commission 2017</a>, <a class="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/">CC BY</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<hr>
<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/university-students-arent-reporting-sexual-assault-and-new-guidelines-dont-address-why-100322">University students aren't reporting sexual assault, and new guidelines don't address why</a>
</strong>
</em>
</p>
<hr>
<p>All 39 Australian public universities also committed to a <a href="https://www.srcentre.com.au/our-research/safety-survey">second national student survey</a> this year. </p>
<p>Most of these responses, while laudatory, are essentially reactive. The same can be said of government responses to the recent claims of sexual assault and harassment in parliament. It has set up inquiries and <a href="https://humanrights.gov.au/sites/default/files/2021-03/Independent%20Review%20into%20workplaces%20of%20Parliamentarians%20and%20their%20Staff%20-%20Terms%20of%20Reference.pdf">reviews into workplace conduct</a>, which will investigate: </p>
<ul>
<li><p>barriers to reporting</p></li>
<li><p>the effectiveness of response and reporting mechanisms</p></li>
<li><p>the availability and utility of support services</p></li>
<li><p>best practice in the prevention and handling of workplace bullying, sexual harassment and sexual assault. </p></li>
</ul>
<h2>Hierarchies of power are part of the problem</h2>
<p>We have seen comparable investigations of other Australian institutions. The Australian Defence Force undertook such a <a href="https://defencereview.humanrights.gov.au/sites/default/files/ADFA_2011.pdf?_ga=2.219503452.457813298.1616586242-1059320373.1616412203">review</a> from 2011 to 2014. More recently an <a href="https://www.smh.com.au/national/high-court-inquiry-finds-former-justice-dyson-heydon-sexually-harassed-associates-20200622-p5550w.html">inquiry</a> by the High Court of Australia exposed analogous accounts of sexual assault and harassment. </p>
<p>In all these environments, hierarchies of power make reporting of such conduct precarious for complainants and the prospect of accountability remote.</p>
<hr>
<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/deep-cultural-shifts-required-open-letter-from-500-legal-women-calls-for-reform-of-way-judges-are-appointed-and-disciplined-142042">Deep cultural shifts required: open letter from 500 legal women calls for reform of way judges are appointed and disciplined</a>
</strong>
</em>
</p>
<hr>
<p>The surveys, reports, reviews and investigations referred to above have all clearly identified the pervasive reach and harm of sexual assault and harassment. They have usefully recommended practices and procedures. </p>
<p>What is absent from many institutional responses, though, is the less concrete issue of understanding. How do they tackle a culture of inequality that enables and condones sexual assault and harassment, mainly against women? </p>
<p>Many institutions and corporations confronted with this conduct are caught between ensuring the safety and well-being of a victim of harm and protecting the institution’s reputation. Last week, a <a href="https://www.abc.net.au/news/2021-03-26/university-southern-california-record-settlement-reached/100031854">US$852 million (A$1.1 billion) settlement</a> involving the University of Southern California highlighted this conflict of interest. When institutions seek to mediate this tension, the seemingly less immediate but larger project of transformation can be limited and overlooked. </p>
<p>In a <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/australia-news/2021/mar/18/listen-and-learn-liberal-mp-urges-scott-morrison-to-convene-a-womens-summit">speech</a> to parliament following the nationwide <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2021/03/15/world/australia/australia-women-marches.html">March 4 Justice rallies</a>, Victorian Liberal MP Russell Broadbent acknowledged
“the anger, the hurt” and “the disregard for women that has led to this fork in the road”. He spoke of the need to “effect change” and “so enrich the nation”.</p>
<hr>
<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/the-womens-march-was-a-huge-success-now-comes-the-hard-part-how-to-actually-get-something-done-157225">The women's march was a huge success. Now comes the hard part: how to actually get something done</a>
</strong>
</em>
</p>
<hr>
<h2>Governments need help from experts</h2>
<p>The national imperative for change requires governments to move urgently to engage experts in the field – from academia and civil society. For decades, these experts have sought to identify and fathom the entrenched inequities that give rise to sexual violence in all its dire forms. </p>
<p>Universities can and must make a contribution that goes beyond compliance with minimal standards of “best practice”. They offer two critical communities, students and academics, who have the perspectives and expertise fundamental to resolving a social problem of national concern. </p>
<p>Students have diverse personal and social experiences both outside and within the academy. They also offer the long-term potential to influence drivers of change. </p>
<p>Practitioner academics, with civil society (including innovative and overstretched sexual assault services), continue to undertake highly relevant research. Their work integrates complementary disciplines and practices, such as public health, psychology, sociology, law, criminology and digital technology. They are well placed to devise effective approaches. </p>
<p>Traditional policymaking cannot achieve the enormous task now before government. This approach will fail if the values, structures and systems underlying dysfunctional behaviours remain in place. And the costs of inertia on these issues have <a href="https://www2.deloitte.com/content/dam/Deloitte/au/Documents/Economics/deloitte-au-economic-costs-sexual-harassment-workplace-240320.pdf">far-reaching consequences</a> for the political, social and economic health of the country. </p>
<p>Surveys, reports, reviews and investigations that lead to good practice, procedures and remedial measure are essential to address immediate needs. However, government on its own is unsuited to achieve lasting, transformative change. The wealth of academic and civil society expertise and evidence-driven solutions are needed to support this exacting process.</p>
<hr>
<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/bad-times-call-for-bold-measures-3-ways-to-fix-the-appalling-treatment-of-women-in-our-national-parliament-157683">Bad times call for bold measures: 3 ways to fix the appalling treatment of women in our national parliament</a>
</strong>
</em>
</p>
<hr>
<img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/157429/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Andrea Durbach was Director of the Australian Human Rights Centre at UNSW from 2006 to 2017, which received funding from The Caledonia Foundation to undertake the Strengthening Australian University Responses to Sexual Assault and Harassment project. She was co-author of On Safe Ground: a good practice guide for Australian universities (2017). </span></em></p>Universities are a step ahead in having adopted a number of practical changes, but it’s clear transformative cultural change in our institutions requires all the expertise they can muster.Andrea Durbach, Emeritus Professor, Faculty of Law, UNSW SydneyLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/944582018-04-05T10:46:05Z2018-04-05T10:46:05ZHoward University student protest: 3 questions answered<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/213311/original/file-20180404-189816-b34gd1.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Students have been protesting conditions at Howard University for several days.</span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Howard_University#/media/File:Howard_University_logo.svg">en.wikipedia.org</a></span></figcaption></figure><p><em>Editor’s note: In order to gain more perspective on the underlying issues of the student-led protest at Howard University, which is now in its seventh day, The Conversation reached out to Marybeth Gasman, a leading scholar on historically black colleges and universities, commonly referred to as HBCUs. What follows is a brief Q&A with Gasman</em>.</p>
<p><div data-react-class="Tweet" data-react-props="{"tweetId":"979799588440870918"}"></div></p>
<p><strong>HBCUs are often portrayed as more <a href="https://medium.com/@DrMichaelLomax/6-reasons-hbcus-are-more-important-than-ever-6572fc27c715">nurturing environments</a> for black students than predominantly white institutions. But the current student protest at Howard University, one of the nation’s most prominent HBCUs, seems to seriously call that rosy portrayal into question. Among other things, students at Howard are complaining about issues that range from lack of housing to indifference to sexual assault on campus to financial malfeasance. Why is there so much trouble in paradise?</strong></p>
<p>The research on nurturing and supporting environments at HBCUs pertains to <a href="http://www.hup.harvard.edu/catalog.php?isbn=9780674736801">faculty and student relationships and also the relationships between peers</a>. Research also tells us that the area that Dillard University President Walter Kimbrough has long called “<a href="https://books.google.com/books?id=nOO8RZ5IuwMC&pg=PT27&lpg=PT27&dq=Bermuda+Triangle+and+Walter+Kimbrough&source=bl&ots=osfwqWkB3I&sig=PXuhd5iTJAWLk1bQ7G_Shl8y9DM&hl=en&sa=X&ved=0ahUKEwip1uyjoqHaAhUqneAKHSYPBYwQ6AEIXzAL#v=onepage&q=Bermuda%20Triang">The Bermuda Triangle of HBCUs</a>” (the offices of the financial aid, the registrar, and the bursar) and how well those three offices are run is a problematic area for many HBCUs. My own <a href="https://repository.upenn.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1400&context=gse_pubs">research</a>, and research that I conducted along with <a href="https://eric.ed.gov/?id=ED527585">Nelson Bowman</a> as well as <a href="https://works.bepress.com/marybeth_gasman/28/">Sibby Anderson-Thompkins</a>, drawing upon interviews with over 4,000 HBCU alumni, finds that problems in this area are the number one reason why HBCU alumni do not give back to their alma maters. It is vital that HBCUs conduct internal and external audits in this area, just as all colleges and universities should.</p>
<p>I also think it is important to not see HBCUs as “paradise.” There are aspects of HBCUs that are wonderful and supportive, but they are complex institutions that are all very different. They are similar in design to all colleges and universities, and thus messy and sometimes complicated; all colleges and universities have problems in various areas. If you look around the nation, you find <a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/college-inc/post/eight-scandals-that-ended-college-presidencies/2011/11/21/gIQA4diYiN_blog.html?utm_term=.e0588a53a37f">financial aid, sexual assault and financial mismanagement</a> at all types of colleges and universities. In the case of Howard, it is a very prominent HBCU and thus attracts a great deal of attention. In addition, <a href="https://repository.upenn.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?referer=https://www.google.com/&httpsredir=1&article=1201&context=gse_pubs">research</a> shows that many people paint HBCUs with a wide brush — blaming what happens at one on all of them. It’s the same thing people do with African-Americans — the actions of one person are used to describe everyone. That’s how racism works and it is often used against HBCUs. We don’t see the problems of one majority institution being used to describe other majority institutions.</p>
<p><strong>Howard University gets <a href="https://www2.ed.gov/programs/howard/funding.html">nearly $200 million</a> in direct funding annually from the federal government and is the only HBCU to get direct federal funding. How could or how should this special relationship with the federal government come into play given the issues that students are currently raising?</strong> </p>
<p>Yes, they receive direct funding from the federal government through Congress, as does deaf-serving <a href="http://www.gallaudet.edu/">Gallaudet University</a>. </p>
<p>If federal financial aid dollars were misused, then Congress or the Department of Education could be involved. That said, it is important that Howard University properly steward the federal funds (or any funds) and this was not the case in the <a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/grade-point/wp/2018/03/28/howard-university-fires-six-employees-after-investigation-into-misappropriated-funding/">alleged misappropriation of funds at Howard</a>.</p>
<p><strong>Some members of HUResist – the student group that is leading the protest at Howard – have indicated that <a href="https://www.chronicle.com/article/Howard-U-Sit-In-Could-Be-the/243012">they hope students at other HBCUs</a> will rise up and demand change as well. To what extent do you think that will happen – and also to what extent do you think that is necessary – and why?</strong></p>
<p>I think you are seeing more <a href="https://files.eric.ed.gov/fulltext/EJ1160433.pdf">activist and emboldened students at HBCUs</a>. See the <a href="http://www.wral.com/students-outraged-over-conditions-at-hampton-university-frustrations-going-viral-after-town-hall-meeting/17367436/">student voices at Hampton</a>, for example. It’s important to note that with the increased use of social media and protest movements across the nation about various topics (racism, gun control, sexual assault), colleges and universities, including HBCUs, are not immune to protests playing out on their campuses.</p>
<p>One thing I am concerned about is the way that some HBCU alumni and people of all racial and ethnic backgrounds (who did not go to HBCUs) are <a href="https://twitter.com/search?q=%23CALLTYRONE&src=tyah">making fun of</a> or <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/HowardUniversity?src=hash">mocking Howard</a> and other HBCUs because of the alleged embezzlement of funds at Howard. This type of behavior doesn’t help Howard or HBCUs even though it may bring laughs on social media. It will be used against HBCUs by those who do not have their best interest at heart.</p>
<p>Instead, people would benefit from researching the situation to get all the facts, meeting with key individuals involved, and working out a plan to ensure this situation doesn’t happen again. If people care about HBCUs, they can be critical, but they also have to take action to make HBCUs stronger and more resilient when these kinds of issues arise.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/94458/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Marybeth Gasman receives or has received funding from the Mellon Foundation, Kresge Foundation, ECMC Foundation, Educational Testing Service, the University of Pennsylvania, Council for International Educational Exchange, Lumina Foundation, USA Funds, The Helmsley Trust, and the W.K. Kellogg Foundation </span></em></p>As the student protest over conditions at Howard University continues, a scholar weighs in on what the fallout means for historically black colleges and universities.Marybeth Gasman, Professor of Higher Education and Director Penn Center for Minority-Serving Institutions, University of PennsylvaniaLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/575962016-04-14T03:25:28Z2016-04-14T03:25:28ZHow universities can begin to tackle rape culture on their campuses<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/118306/original/image-20160412-15861-z30vko.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">University campuses are a hotbed of rape culture.</span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">Reuters </span></span></figcaption></figure><p><a href="http://edition.cnn.com/2016/02/29/entertainment/lady-gaga-performance-oscars-feat/">Lady Gaga’s performance</a> of <em>Til it happens to you</em> at the 2016 Academy Awards drew worldwide attention to sexual violence, and specifically the recent increase in sexual assault on American university campuses.</p>
<p>It resonated elsewhere in the world, too. Stellenbosch University in South Africa has set up <a href="http://www.sun.ac.za/english/Lists/news/DispForm.aspx?ID=3740">a task team</a> to “investigate issues around gender violence” on its campus. About 50km away, students at the University of Cape Town organised <a href="http://varsitynewspaper.co.za/news/4394-confronting-sexual-violence-and-rape-culture-uct">a campaign</a> to draw attention to sexual violence and rape culture on their campus. A <a href="http://activateonline.co.za/chapter-2-12-the-campaign-against-rape-culture/">similar campaign</a> has also been launched at Rhodes University, in the country’s Eastern Cape province. </p>
<p>These incidents are further evidence that “rape culture” is a reality in South Africa. The term was <a href="http://www.wavaw.ca/what-is-rape-culture/">coined</a> in the 1970s and refers to the pervasive ideology that supports or excuses sexual assault. In this culture, it is primarily women who experience “a continuum of threatened violence” that ranges from sexist remarks to unwanted sexual touching – and to rape itself.</p>
<p>University campuses are prime locations for rape culture. In the 1980s Mary Koss, an expert on gender-based violence, did a <a href="http://www.soci270.carvajal.ca/documents/KossTheScopeofRape.pdf">seminal study</a> at 32 university campuses in the US. She found that university campuses are the perfect site for “sexual aggression and victimisation” of women because they are closed institutions, much like the military and prisons. People live, study, work and play in the same environment. A university campus is a closed environment with particular norms and practices to which its community is constantly exposed. Within such settings it is very hard to counter whatever is considered normal and acceptable.</p>
<p>South Africa faces a particularly pernicious problem given the country’s high levels of violence against women. Universities can take a decisive step by addressing the widespread prevalence of rape culture on their campuses, drawing from the experience of others, particularly in the US. </p>
<h2>The broader South African context</h2>
<p>South Africa has high rates of rape, though these are <a href="https://theconversation.com/rewriting-the-script-around-south-africas-rape-statistics-40541">incredibly underreported</a>. The headlines are sickeningly common: the atrocious treatment of a <a href="http://ewn.co.za/2016/03/08/WC-health-MEC-to-convene-urgent-meeting-at-Paarl-hospital">four-year-old rape victim</a>, or the <a href="http://www.sowetanlive.co.za/news/2016/02/04/mourning-widow-forced-to-listen-as-daughter-is-gang-raped">gang rape of a 16-year-old</a> while her mother is forced to listen. Every day there’s a report about sexual violence somewhere in the country.</p>
<p>But rape culture is about far more than rape. Rape culture is created and enabled by patriarchy, which empowers men at the expense of women. It supports a hegemonic, idealised version of masculinity that does not easily allow for alternative expressions of being a man. This is why not only women and girls are victims of rape culture – men and boys are sometimes, too. </p>
<p>Discussing rape culture involves talking about the societal attitudes regarding sexuality and gender that normalises sexual abuse. Society normalises sexually violent acts in various ways. Through jokes, song lyrics, advertising billboards and bestselling novels, among others, a culture is created where sexual violence becomes permissible.</p>
<p>Not all sexist societies manifest high levels of violence against women. But research has showed that rape in South Africa is “deeply <a href="http://mg.co.za/article/2009-07-09-in-south-africa-rape-is-linked-to-manhood">embedded in ideas of manhood</a>”. Researchers and gender activists have also argued that the violent repression of apartheid has played a role in cementing rape culture.</p>
<p>Rape culture in South Africa manifests in the highest levels of government: President Jacob Zuma accusing <a href="http://www.news24.com/elections/news/women-too-sensitive-to-compliments-zuma-20160305">women of complaining about harassment</a> too quickly, or stating that <a href="http://mg.co.za/article/2012-08-21-zuma-women-must-have-children">single women are a problem</a> in society. It’s also revealed in the way elected male leaders respond to their female counterparts. When the female then-leader of the opposition Democratic Alliance and premier of the Western Cape province installed an all-male provincial cabinet, they were called her <a href="http://www.dailymaverick.co.za/article/2014-02-03-zille-ramphele-mazibuko-ntuli-the-trouble-with-being-female-in-politics/#.VwuY8Pl95D9">“boyfriends and concubines”</a>. Another woman opposition politician was dismissed as a <a href="http://www.theguardian.com/politics/2013/jun/14/top-10-sexist-moments-politics">“tea girl”</a>, and her dress and hairstyle were criticised in the country’s parliament.</p>
<p>South African universities <a href="http://www.mrc.ac.za/crime/aspj/2013/Weface.pdf">exist</a> within this context. This arguably makes it even more likely for rape culture to pervade their campuses. All of this is not to suggest, though, that universities can do nothing about it.</p>
<h2>Universities can do a great deal</h2>
<p>At other universities, especially in the US, various interventions have been launched to address rape culture. Some launch semester-long <a href="http://dx.doi.org/10.1300/J015v28n02_04">rape education courses</a> with the aim of developing rape consciousness among students. Some focus on <a href="https://etd.ohiolink.edu/!etd.send_file?accession=akron1406555995&disposition=inline">mobilising bystanders</a> to address rape culture. At some universities, <a href="http://www.facultyagainstrape.net/">faculty members</a> have become involved as researchers, teachers, advocates or policy reformers. </p>
<p>South Africa’s universities can draw from this existing hard work in addressing their own rape cultures. It will have to be contextualised, though, especially keeping in mind how violent South African society is. </p>
<p>Universities are also in the fortunate position of being educational centres. This means they are well placed to educate students in a myriad ways about identifying and tackling rape culture. An enclosed university environment also arguably makes for an easier setting in which to challenge the broader issue of rape culture – compared to, say, South Africa at large. But addressing rape culture will require long-term prioritising and commitment from university management. This is something that has been lacking on many, if not most, campuses. </p>
<p>A cautionary note, though: while people are rightly shocked about rape at a university, institutions should be careful that their interventions are about addressing this rather than about restoring their own reputations. It has been sad to realise that there is not the same outcry when rape culture is seen in action in South Africa at large. Why are so many people only dismayed when these things happen at a prestigious university?</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/57596/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Elisabet le Roux does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>University campuses are prime locations for rape culture. What can be done about this reality?Elisabet le Roux, Researcher, Unit for Religion and Development Research, Faculty of Theology, Stellenbosch UniversityLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/508312015-11-19T11:16:18Z2015-11-19T11:16:18ZExplainer: Why transgender students need ‘safe’ bathrooms<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/116797/original/image-20160330-28483-1xb0cki.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">What's the fuss over gender-neutral bathrooms?</span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/denverjeffrey/6859753101">Jeffrey Beall</a>, <a class="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/">CC BY-SA</a></span></figcaption></figure><p>The newest front line in the battle for LGBTQ safety and dignity involves bathroom access for the transgender community. The <a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/local/education/gavin-grimm-just-wanted-to-use-the-bathroom-he-didnt-think-the-nation-would-debate-it/2016/08/30/23fc9892-6a26-11e6-ba32-5a4bf5aad4fa_story.html">national spotlight</a> has turned to transgender individuals who are finding their ability to use public bathrooms <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2017/02/27/us/jackie-evancho-transgender-sister-bathroom.html">under investigation</a> – and sometimes attack – by school boards and state legislators.</p>
<p>But why has transgender bathroom use garnered such attention? And how will it impact transgender students?</p>
<p>My research shows how political and <a href="http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/lsi.12233/abstract">legal battles</a> over LGBTQ rights can negatively impact the daily lives of LGBTQ individuals and families. Right now, transgender students are currently suffering significant setbacks at the local, state and federal level, limiting their access to public bathrooms and threatening their health and safety. </p>
<p>Here’s why.</p>
<h2>The current state of transgender bathroom rights</h2>
<p>On Feb. 22, President Donald Trump <a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/local/education/trump-administration-rolls-back-protections-for-transgender-students/2017/02/22/550a83b4-f913-11e6-bf01-d47f8cf9b643_story.html?utm_term=.7f64fc4b5f0c">rescinded</a> a key protection issued by former President Barack Obama. Obama’s <a href="https://www2.ed.gov/about/offices/list/ocr/letters/colleague-201605-title-ix-transgender.pdf">2016 “dear colleague” letter</a> required schools that receive federal funding to accommodate a transgender student’s gender identity when granting access to bathrooms or other gender-specified facilities.</p>
<p>In her explanation of Trump’s directive, Secretary of Education Betsy DeVos argued that although “protecting all students, <a href="http://www.mediaite.com/online/betsy-devos-protecting-lgbtq-students-should-be-key-priority-for-all-schools/">including LGBTQ students</a>” is “a key priority for the department,” the issue of transgender bathroom access is “best solved at the state and local levels.” </p>
<p>However, as the past year indicates, there are problems with leaving this critical civil rights issue up to state legislatures.</p>
<p>For instance, at least <a href="http://www.ncsl.org/research/education/-bathroom-bill-legislative-tracking635951130.aspx">10 states</a> are considering bills that would require individuals to use multi-stall public bathrooms that match their biological gender – and at least two impose criminal sanctions on any violation. </p>
<p>State bills like these would take precedence over local efforts to enact anti-discrimination policies. North Carolina, for example, passed one such state law last year: the now infamous <a href="http://www.ncleg.net/Sessions/2015E2/Bills/House/PDF/H2v4.pdf">HB2 bathroom bill</a>. The bill was introduced in direct response to a <a href="http://charlottenc.gov/NonDiscrimination/Pages/default.aspx">Charlotte City Council ordinance</a> outlawing discrimination against members of the LGBTQ community.</p>
<p>Meanwhile, Arkansas legislators prevailed on Feb. 23 in a similar battle with local officials over transgender bathroom rights. The <a href="http://www.cbsnews.com/news/arkansas-supreme-court-strikes-lgbt-protections-fayetteville/">Arkansas Supreme Court overturned</a> a nondiscrimination ordinance <a href="http://www.arktimes.com/ArkansasBlog/archives/2015/09/08/early-vote-favors-fayetteville-civil-rights-ordinance-68-32">passed by the city of Fayetteville</a>, ruling that one city cannot expand the state’s anti-discrimination protection to include gender identity.</p>
<p>In both of these cases, the state laws and city ordinances are in direct conflict, but the state takes precedence, making it illegal for transgender individuals to use the bathrooms matching their gender identity.</p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/159220/original/image-20170302-14714-1q6ogv4.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/159220/original/image-20170302-14714-1q6ogv4.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/159220/original/image-20170302-14714-1q6ogv4.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=431&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/159220/original/image-20170302-14714-1q6ogv4.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=431&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/159220/original/image-20170302-14714-1q6ogv4.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=431&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/159220/original/image-20170302-14714-1q6ogv4.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=542&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/159220/original/image-20170302-14714-1q6ogv4.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=542&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/159220/original/image-20170302-14714-1q6ogv4.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=542&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Gavin Grimm’s case is scheduled to appear before the Supreme Court in March. It’s unclear whether Trump’s reversal on the Obama administration’s guidance on transgender bathrooms will stall the case.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">AP Photo/Steve Helber</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>As is true in <a href="https://www.oyez.org/cases/2014/14-556">many</a> <a href="https://www.oyez.org/cases/2012/12-307">cases</a> <a href="https://www.oyez.org/cases/2002/02-102">involving</a> <a href="https://www.oyez.org/cases/1995/94-1039">LGBTQ rights</a>, the Supreme Court may end up having the last word on the issue. The court is set to hear oral arguments in March for a case involving a <a href="http://www.scotusblog.com/case-files/cases/gloucester-county-school-board-v-g-g/">transgender boy’s fight for adequate access to restrooms in his high school</a>.</p>
<p>All told, only <a href="https://www.aclu.org/map/non-discrimination-laws-state-state-information-map">13 states (and the District of Columbia)</a> explicitly protect against gender identity discrimination in public schools. Without these statewide protections – and with local governments being overruled by state law – many transgender students living in the remaining 37 states cannot feel safe when using school bathrooms.</p>
<h2>Issues of physical, emotional safety</h2>
<p>So why do we need legal protection against bathroom restrictions?</p>
<p>The stakes are high for transgender students. </p>
<p>Studies show that transgender students could be harassed, sexually assaulted or subjected to other physical violence when required to use a gendered bathroom.</p>
<p>Recent studies suggest that over 50 percent of transgender individuals <a href="http://faculty.mu.edu.sa/public/uploads/1425310920.5389violence%20transgender.pdf">will experience sexual assault</a> in their lifetime (a rate that is far higher than for nontransgendered individuals), and that (absent protections) using bathrooms could pose a significant threat of physical harm or harassment. </p>
<p>One survey, commissioned by <a href="https://williamsinstitute.law.ucla.edu/">UCLA’s Williams Institute</a>, found that <a href="https://williamsinstitute.law.ucla.edu/wp-content/uploads/Herman-Gendered-Restrooms-and-Minority-Stress-June-2013.pdf#page=7">68 percent of participants</a> were subjected to homophobic slurs while trying to use the bathroom. <a href="https://williamsinstitute.law.ucla.edu/wp-content/uploads/Herman-Gendered-Restrooms-and-Minority-Stress-June-2013.pdf#page=7">Nine percent</a> confronted physical violence.</p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/116803/original/image-20160330-28451-kkodni.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/116803/original/image-20160330-28451-kkodni.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=450&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/116803/original/image-20160330-28451-kkodni.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=450&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/116803/original/image-20160330-28451-kkodni.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=450&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/116803/original/image-20160330-28451-kkodni.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=566&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/116803/original/image-20160330-28451-kkodni.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=566&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/116803/original/image-20160330-28451-kkodni.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=566&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Studies have shown how use of bathroom results in assaults.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/zappowbang/466812968/in/photolist-Hfxes-eefZ2p-9kV8Zc-ehrBL8-ehxizq-7m27qQ-9h8L5F-mYXfHf-8xuFeH-9hnH2c-ehryFP-ehrzi4-ehrzCK-8xxGKu-9kYdKC-bM5Hq4-gndp7V-i77iJ6-i76zC3-9kYbaC-nzxgu8-biTybn-9kRX8i-i76Upd-9kYbso-i77kTX-eaviCn-7Haptx-8UsHwV-i76tgM-9kYbWu-9kV514-Hfx97-asDYat-9kYdx3-3onp1-7Haw9k-HfAdV-9kV2bu-esvjh-8xuFsx-9kYbKf-i76Qyq-HUqgR-HTXK2-8xxGAs-8xtRp2-9kV6xp-nYTMPE-7kXdV8">Justin Henry</a>, <a class="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/">CC BY</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>Another study that surveyed transgender individuals in Washington, D.C. found that <a href="https://williamsinstitute.law.ucla.edu/wp-content/uploads/Herman-Gendered-Restrooms-and-Minority-Stress-June-2013.pdf#page=7">70 percent</a> were either verbally threatened, physically assaulted or prevented in some way from using the bathroom of their choice. Some experienced more than one form of such behavior.</p>
<p>Yet another survey found that <a href="http://comptroller.nyc.gov/wp-content/uploads/documents/Gender_Neutral_Bathrooms.pdf#page=2">26 percent of transgender students</a> in New York were denied access to their preferred bathrooms altogether.</p>
<p>The result? Transgender students need to constantly weigh the trade-offs as they consider bathroom options.</p>
<p>As one University of Washington student <a href="http://www.king5.com/news/local/seattle/uw-students-call-for-more-gender-neutral-restrooms_20160418093106605/140291974">articulates</a>:</p>
<blockquote>
<p>Do I choose physical safety or emotional safety? Do I choose physical health or mental health?</p>
</blockquote>
<h2>Bathroom redesign</h2>
<p>In response to demands from transgender advocates, parents and transgender students, administrators from California to Texas, in elementary schools and colleges, have considered the costs and benefits of redesigning bathrooms to accommodate transgender students.</p>
<p>For example, students at the <a href="http://pittnews.com/62434/news/beds-and-bathrooms-pitt-goes-gender-neutral/">University of Pittsburgh</a> can now use bathrooms that conform to their own gender identity. Arizona State University, Ohio State and Wesleyan University, among several others, <a href="http://www.houstonpress.com/arts/gender-neutral-bathrooms-are-opening-their-doors-in-houston-and-elsewhere-6392063">have instituted policies requiring all new construction to include gender-neutral bathrooms</a>. They are assessing how to modify the existing bathrooms to become gender-neutral or single-stall facilities.</p>
<figure class="align-left ">
<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/102265/original/image-20151118-23204-bx0tjt.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=237&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/102265/original/image-20151118-23204-bx0tjt.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=388&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/102265/original/image-20151118-23204-bx0tjt.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=388&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/102265/original/image-20151118-23204-bx0tjt.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=388&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/102265/original/image-20151118-23204-bx0tjt.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=488&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/102265/original/image-20151118-23204-bx0tjt.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=488&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/102265/original/image-20151118-23204-bx0tjt.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=488&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Universities are bringing in policies to have gender-neutral bathrooms.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/taedc/15799031740/in/photolist-q57aGY-jeZ6FB-7h4zDD-uDWfrH-e7hipR-mEwTCq-qLuCEj-qfxPeM-e7nVzj-NHLdq-dvcDVd-8q94PM-k6LNzB-e7nVXJ-ndU2MK-nb7xLz-k6CTQd-e7nWHU-uDWYbe-uDgBjy-un7BVA-un7YdY-upwMXE-5otHqH-gdKmK-4xfLxD-k6CBsd-k6CQY1-o4o72q-k6BfFz-63nebf-k6ATcT-77ZsTH-7mTVrd-nDmSCD-7cARDf-5ELJFo-5bWgco-8TNgHF-tGRLMK-icYznx-AxQW98-xv4Ymq-wEgLAS-uBi2JN-sTy3er-regVdu-qVBa4W-qgEiNw-rbhMhB">Ted Eytan</a>, <a class="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/">CC BY-SA</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>As increasing numbers of primary- and secondary-school-aged children are identifying as transgender, public schools have become “<a href="http://www.theatlantic.com/education/archive/2015/07/the-k-12-binary/398060/">ground zero</a>” for fights over bathroom safety.</p>
<p><a href="http://www.sfgate.com/bayarea/article/Bathrooms-at-Miraloma-Elementary-in-S-F-go-6481544.php">Miraloma Elementary School</a>, in San Francisco, for instance, removed gendered signs from many of their bathrooms.</p>
<p>About two years ago, Governor Jerry Brown signed into law the <a href="http://www.cde.ca.gov/re/di/eo/faqs.asp">School Success and Opportunity Act</a>, requiring that all students be able to access bathrooms or locker rooms that are consistent with their own gender identity in California’s K-12 settings.</p>
<h2>Need for safety</h2>
<p>But these school or district-level efforts have been either limited to states with existing gender identity protections (like California) or have been overturned by school board or state action. </p>
<p>This is why Obama’s directive was so important. Regardless of where a student lived or attended school, it provided students with legal protection.</p>
<p>Without the directive, and despite DeVos’ assurances, bathroom options will be limited for many transgender students.</p>
<p>Either they have to travel quite a distance to get to the nearest single-stall gender-neutral bathroom, or just “hold it in.” </p>
<p>Such options have clear drawbacks and health risks. <a href="http://www.nytimes.com/2015/07/27/opinion/for-transgender-americans-legal-battles-over-restrooms.html">Urinary tract infections</a>, <a href="http://thinkprogress.org/lgbt/2015/10/14/3712394/wisconsin-transgender-school-discrimination/">depression and even suicide</a> could be among them. </p>
<p>One <a href="http://www.tandfonline.com/10.1080/00918369.2016.1157998">study</a> of transgender individuals found that over 60 percent of participants who had experienced some form of bathroom exclusion had attempted suicide – a rate far higher than among respondents who had experienced no constraints on bathroom use.</p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/159223/original/image-20170302-14695-we9oh2.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/159223/original/image-20170302-14695-we9oh2.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/159223/original/image-20170302-14695-we9oh2.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=409&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/159223/original/image-20170302-14695-we9oh2.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=409&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/159223/original/image-20170302-14695-we9oh2.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=409&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/159223/original/image-20170302-14695-we9oh2.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=514&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/159223/original/image-20170302-14695-we9oh2.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=514&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/159223/original/image-20170302-14695-we9oh2.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=514&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Signage outside a restroom at 21c Museum Hotel in Durham, North Carolina, May 12, 2016.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">AP Photo/Gerry Broome, File</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>Importantly, the risks of physical and verbal assault – as well as the attendant risks of depression and suicidality – are present even when a transgender student uses the bathroom that matches his or her birth-assigned gender. </p>
<p>When students who, in every visible way, present as their identified gender are forced to use bathrooms that match their biological genders, reactions are strong. <a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/posteverything/wp/2016/04/19/as-a-trans-man-i-never-felt-scared-or-unsafe-then-north-carolina-passed-its-discrimination-law/?utm_term=.c57e68dcdbc2">Payton McGarry</a>, a transgender male, describes being “screamed at, pushed, shoved or even slapped” when he used the women’s restroom after he began to develop male attributes.</p>
<p>This leaves transgender individuals with no real public bathroom option. As <a href="http://www.rollingstone.com/politics/news/what-its-like-to-use-a-public-bathroom-while-trans-20160331">Brynne Tannehill,</a> a transgender woman, describes, you could use “the women’s room and probably be OK and break the law.” Or “you walk into the men’s room… and you stay and that immediately marks you as transgender.” In this instance, argues Tannehill, following the law is far riskier. “Last year, we had 22 or 23 trans women murdered.”</p>
<p>As a result, sometimes transgender college students see their <a href="http://hub.jhu.edu/2014/11/25/homewood-bathroom-signs">best option</a> as renting a house near campus so they can go home to use the bathroom.</p>
<p><a href="http://www.nbcnews.com/feature/nbc-out/transgender-hotline-reports-flood-calls-after-trump-walks-back-federal-n725796">Recent transgender hotline activity</a> suggests that Trump’s actions have provoked fear among transgendered individuals and their allies. As news spread of his new directive, hotlines were flooded with calls. For instance, in January, Trans Lifeline received on average 139 calls per day. On Feb. 23, the lifeline fielded 379 calls. The crisis hotline has also seen a marked increase in “high severity calls” – those indicating “immediate crisis” – since Trump’s inauguration.</p>
<p>Legal groups like the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) are continuing their fight in court, <a href="http://www.cnn.com/2016/03/23/politics/north-carolina-gender-bathrooms-bill/">arguing</a> that these bathroom bills “push ugly and fundamentally untrue stereotypes that are based on fear and ignorance.”</p>
<p>For many, though, Trump’s decision to prioritize states’ rights means no bathroom options for trans students – especially in states that prohibit any local accommodation.</p>
<p>“Trans women are killed for using the men’s restroom, and they’re jailed for using the women’s restroom,” explains <a href="http://www.usatoday.com/story/news/nation/2016/04/28/transgender-bathroom-bills-discrimination/32594395/">Tyler Beebe</a>, a 27-year-old trans woman. “In the end, what choice do we have?”</p>
<p><em>Editor’s note: This is an updated version of an article first published on Nov. 19, 2016.</em></p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/50831/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Alison Gash does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organization that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>The bathroom has become a battleground for transgender rights — and rightfully so. Research shows that bathroom restrictions threaten the health and safety of the transgender community.Alison Gash, Assistant Professor of Political Science, University of OregonLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/453332015-07-28T12:19:49Z2015-07-28T12:19:49ZHow to respond to an allegation of sexual assault<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/89911/original/image-20150728-7626-c0dynt.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">
</span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="http://nymag.com/thecut/2015/07/bill-cosbys-accusers-speak-out.html">New York Magazine</a></span></figcaption></figure><p>This week’s New York Magazine surely has its <a href="http://nymag.com/thecut/2015/07/bill-cosbys-accusers-speak-out.html#beverly-johnson2">most poignant cover ever</a>, in a piece of remarkable journalism. With the caption: “the unwelcome sisterhood”, the cover shows black and white photographs of 35 of the 46 women whose sexual assault allegations against Bill Cosby span five decades.</p>
<p>One of the women, Barbara Bowman, aged just 17 and trying to make it to the next level in her career at the time of the alleged assaults, describes the feelings about what was happening to her and the invisible bars that she felt trapped by. She said:</p>
<blockquote>
<p>I could have walked down any street of Manhattan at any time and said, ‘I’m being raped and drugged by Bill Cosby,’ but who the hell would have believed me? Nobody, nobody.</p>
</blockquote>
<p>She is, of course, correct. At that time Cosby was a well-known, much-loved and respected actor, celebrated on a global scale. </p>
<p>Even today, many women are having trouble getting authorities to respond adequately to allegations of sexual violence. The Guardian recently published <a href="http://www.theguardian.com/education/2015/jul/26/student-rape-sexual-violence-universities-guidelines-nus">an investigation</a> into how university students had been let down by their institutions when trying to report their experiences of sexual assault on campus.</p>
<p>So what is the best way to respond if someone does make a disclosure of sexual assault to you? What can you do to help and, importantly, how can you avoid making the situation worse?</p>
<h2>Don’t underestimate barriers to disclosing</h2>
<p>At Durham University we have been offering training to staff about responding appropriately to disclosures of sexual violence. One of the exercises we ask participants to do is to think about the barriers that students might face when considering disclosing a sexual assault. </p>
<p>For every concern: “Will they believe me if I’ve been drinking?”, “Will the forensic medical examination hurt?”, “Will my parents find out?”, we place a chair in the middle of the room and line them up in a row. By the end of the exercise, participants generally move from wondering why victims don’t report to how anyone does at all.</p>
<p>One of the ultimate fears is that they will not be believed. Kay Davies from Rape Crisis England and Wales works with us on the training and always reminds us not to say: “I just can’t believe [name] would do such a thing, he’s usually such a quiet/intelligent/kind young man”.</p>
<p>In this situation rather than “I just can’t believe it” being interpreted as a figure of speech, it can be interpreted as “I don’t believe you” or “No-one will believe you”. Their worst fears realised in an oft-used phrase.</p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/89923/original/image-20150728-7662-ndzj8n.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/89923/original/image-20150728-7662-ndzj8n.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=600&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/89923/original/image-20150728-7662-ndzj8n.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=600&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/89923/original/image-20150728-7662-ndzj8n.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=600&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/89923/original/image-20150728-7662-ndzj8n.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=754&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/89923/original/image-20150728-7662-ndzj8n.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=754&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/89923/original/image-20150728-7662-ndzj8n.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=754&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Empty chairs.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/sammcox/8411585311/in/photolist-dPizfX-5XHnUj-5wA6Xq-dLJDTr-8h54Zp-ei61rf-4uU3as-7AbECV-7mx78k-cp9kU9-avFtfA-9oATnn-bmxRwg-8BhWAN-8Tgt4z-5TNVz5-dKZHcJ-7nEPP6-d65xHQ-8oXxR8-3s5tzc-4bPsP2-63GdHo-5ZYUpS-6k1yuK-9Lrna5-gFB4FY-aNojbP-4VNnxL-cw5F2f-3fNz8d-3fJdEc-9vWb3q-3fJage-3fNzUh-6Q5eN6-3fNARA-9WBeB-9qTGH8-ebNFqr-ngN7rg-8n9RYV-7LLLEV-3fJ9p6-dJnnPp-p4owm1-dcTQR6-wfTJa-7QA9uZ-dRjVTm">Sam Cox</a>, <a class="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/">CC BY-NC</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<h2>Don’t panic</h2>
<p>It’s an awful fact that rape and other sexual assaults happen every day in every town and city, particularly though not exclusively, to women and girls. Try not to look shocked and panic. Realise that someone has trusted you enough to tell you about one of these daily occurrences that has happened to them. </p>
<p>Feel honoured that they came to you with this important disclosure. If they are telling you about a sexual assault that isn’t recent don’t assume they have already told other people about it even if it happened in childhood – you might still be the first person they are disclosing to.</p>
<h2>Don’t ask too many ‘detail’ questions</h2>
<p>If a disclosure is made to you and the victim intends to also make a police report, don’t delay the situation by asking too many questions. If a full disclosure is made to you, then you become an important witness and will probably need to give evidence and be cross-examined in court. This means taking notes or having a very good memory. Better to leave it to the professionals and let the police take over with a properly recorded interview.</p>
<p>Even if the victim does not intend to report, you should not ask a lot of questions about the actual assault. Questions such as: “What exactly happened?” or: “What did he do?” can be inappropriate depending on the context and the relationship between the victim and yourself. </p>
<p>The language of sexual assault: “vagina”, “anus”, “semen”, “penis”, or the many slang versions of them, are not words that many people feel comfortable using out loud, especially with people they know only on a professional basis and to people their senior.</p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/89921/original/image-20150728-11549-2vj658.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/89921/original/image-20150728-11549-2vj658.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=450&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/89921/original/image-20150728-11549-2vj658.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=450&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/89921/original/image-20150728-11549-2vj658.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=450&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/89921/original/image-20150728-11549-2vj658.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=566&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/89921/original/image-20150728-11549-2vj658.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=566&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/89921/original/image-20150728-11549-2vj658.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=566&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Speaking out is hard.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/34202774@N07/6203120623/in/photolist-as9BDz-as9BzB-as9Bvi-ascfns-ascfi7-ascfeo-as9B7k-as9AUK-asceKJ-ascewj-as9Avc-asceod-ascef5-ascdZ1-as9zWD-as9zMF-ascdFj-as9zC6-ascdt5-as9zh6-asccZo-asccVs-as9yPR-as9yFP-asccyA-asccub-as9yk2-aschKs-aschyG-aschtY-as9DwZ-aschmS-aschih-as9Dkk-as9DfX-asch4C-as9D5P-ascgVW-aschFf-dd3JnK-arqcLE-e8NHPk-asGzKh-9T6xSU-9T3JdV-9Sf31m-ddrohK-arZWJU-aeSH4X-arXpfi">Alan</a>, <a class="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/">CC BY</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<h2>Don’t try to ‘fix it’</h2>
<p>You can’t fix this – you can’t make it right and you can’t take away the pain. </p>
<p>What you can do is respond in a caring manner: “I’m so sorry this has happened to you”, “What do you need right now?”, “Is there anyone I can call for you?”, “What do you want to happen?”. Don’t make promises that can’t or won’t be kept: “We’re going to make sure that bastard is found and locked up for a very long time.” Try not to show your anger “I’m going to kill him when I get my hands on him”. This isn’t about you and your anger, its about what the victim needs. Centre it on their needs, not yours.</p>
<h2>Refer victim to the right place</h2>
<p>The main services for victims of sexual offences are Sexual Assault Referral Centres and Rape Crisis Centres, though both also refer to each other. </p>
<p><a href="http://www.nhs.uk/Service-Search/Rape-and-sexual-assault-referral-centres/LocationSearch/364">Sexual Offence Referral Centres</a>, or SARCs, take referrals (including self-referrals) from people who have recently been raped. They are usually run by the police and health services. Forensic medical examinations take place at SARCs and victims can either decide to proceed with a police report while they are there – the SARC will arrange this – or the victim can choose not to make a police report but to have their evidence from the examination stored for the future. This means that if they decide they want to make a police report when they feel stronger, they have the evidence to do so. </p>
<p>If other victims start coming forward against the same offender then the victim might feel more able to be part of a group making an allegation against the same offender than they were as a single complainant.</p>
<p><div data-react-class="Tweet" data-react-props="{"tweetId":"625585312635424768"}"></div></p>
<p>Contrary to what their name suggests, <a href="http://rapecrisis.org.uk/centres.php">Rape Crisis Centres</a> do not just work with women who are in crisis, but also women who have been raped a long time – even decades – ago. Many centres specialise in work with women and girls though some work with men. </p>
<p>If someone discloses to you who does not want or need a medical examination because of the time that has passed since the assault, or they want to talk to someone in complete confidence – then this is a useful place to refer them.</p>
<p>We cannot all become trained Rape Crisis counsellors, but as the disclosure rate continues to increase, we can choose to educate ourselves and those around us on the basics of how to respond sensitively. </p>
<p>They came to you, they trusted you – please don’t let them down. Help them – and us – to continue breaking the silence around sexual assault.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/45333/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Nicole Westmarland is a trustee of Darlington and Co. Durham Rape and Sexual Abuse Counselling Centre and a member of the Durham University Sexual Violence Task Force. </span></em></p>The world is full of bad responses to sexual assault allegations. Here’s how to do it right.Nicole Westmarland, Professor of Criminology, Durham UniversityLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.