LATEST NEWS:

A richer student experience, but for who? The discriminatory effects of abandoning dual delivery.

With the days of strict lockdowns and cautious safety measures seemingly behind us, the University of Melbourne has implemented a return to full on-campus learning for all undergraduate and most postg

The American private equity giant buying up our local pubs

Have you noticed that something hasn’t quite been the same about your favourite pubs since the pandemic? Perhaps the pints are costlier, the menu has changed, the staff’s smiles appear forced and ther

Normalisation of Unpaid Trials: How Melbourne’s Casual Job Market Exploits International Students

Shivani, 21, moved from India six months ago. In April, she was called in for her first casual job at a kebab joint on Flinders Street. The marketing graduate was asked by the owner to do 12 hours

On Dreading Netflix's Upcoming Depp v. Heard Documentary

A few weeks ago, Netflix announced its new documentary, Depp vs. Heard, set to premiere later this month. The promises made were lofty: to re-examine the trial, to analyze the mass hysteria it provoke

Equitable Contraceptive Responsibility: Pioneering Gender-Neutral Contraceptive Solutions

If it takes two to tango, why does only one have to suffer? There should be more safe and effective methods available for men so that we can all equitably share the contraceptive responsibility.

 

News Article

Seven suspended, but no action on clubs or colleges: UniMelb 2022 Sexual Misconduct Report released

The University of Melbourne has released their 2022 Sexual Misconduct Report, revealing that four staff members have been removed from the University after being found to have committed serious misconduct, but the report remains absent of any actions to combat sexual assault in clubs and residential colleges.

featuredHomeNewsslidingArticle

Content warning: sexual assault, sexual harrassment

 

The University of Melbourne has released their 2022 Sexual Misconduct Report, revealing that four staff members have been removed from the University after being found to have committed serious misconduct, but the report remains absent of any actions to combat sexual assault in clubs and residential colleges.

The report follows the release of the 2021 National Student Safety Survey (NSSS), which found Clubs and Societies events and residential colleges to be significant areas where sexual misconduct occurs, by almost a year.

The NSSS delivered a quantitative and qualitative report on the experience and prevalence of sexual assault and sexual harassment on campuses across the country. A random sample of 9,992 University of Melbourne students were asked to complete the survey, with 1,481 students responding.

University of Melbourne Provost Nicola Phillips said the 2022 Sexual Misconduct Report, now in its second year, aims to “help build trust in our systems and processes to eradicate this issue from our University community.”

In a 20 March press release, the University outlined actions taken against perpetrators of sexual misconduct in 2022.  Seven students were suspended and four staff members left the University after being found to have committed sexual misconduct.

Disclosing the outcome of these complaints has been described by the University as part of their “ongoing commitment to transparency.” 

The Sexual Misconduct Report noted that 90 per cent of complaints made were by a female complainant against a male respondent, with the majority of claims being substantiated. 70 per cent of complainants were students, and 20 per cent were members of staff.

11 sexual misconduct complaints were made against a respondent who was a staff member; in these instances, one of the possible listed “corrective actions” was for the staff member to make an apology to the complainant.

The report does not specify what factors cause findings of misconduct to result in an apology rather than termination of employment or other more severe penalties.

Speaking to Farrago, The University of Melbourne Student Union (UMSU) Women’s Officers found the report's framing “disappointing”.

“It's great to see the University putting more effort into this... but it would have been nice to see the things UMSU and [its] working groups have put together in this report as well,” said Alessandra Soliven.

This includes submissions into the University’s review of the Student Complaints and Grievances process, and issues raised by UMSU's Sexual Assault and Harassment Working Group.

The Women's Officers noted that the exclusion of these submissions was particularly disappointing, as many discussions the working group raised were about the effects sexual assault and harassment has on specific university communities, like the Clubs and Societies program.

These concerns reflect the findings of the 2021 NSSS, which found that 39.7 per cent of harassment occurred in “general campus areas”, 16.2 per cent of harassment occurred at Clubs and Societies events, and 10.9 per cent in campus libraries. 56.1 per cent of victim-survivors knew the perpetrators beforehand.

The NSSS did not specify how many of the “general campus areas” were residential colleges; however in a Farrago article last year, an anonymous contributor highlighted the specific prevalence of sexual assault in a college environment, sharing their personal account.

The Sexual Misconduct Report instead focuses on the broader “university community”, a concept also referenced in the Respect Action Plan and other preventative measures the University is implementing to varying degrees of success.

One of these measures, held as part of the Respect at Uni Week event, included providing students with a free sausage in return for signing their full name on a large prop sign that read “‘I pledge to obtain consent.”

 

 

 
Farrago's magazine cover - Edition Two 2023

EDITION FOUR 'MULTIVERSE' AVAILABLE NOW!

What would you find if you walked through the looking glass into another time? Why are all the plastic googly eyes you spilt over your bedroom floor following your every move? The entire universe and beyond is your disco ball of scintillating possibility.

Read online