POLICY & REFORM
Battle for
respect,
equality
University leaders and advocates met recently to
discuss details of a campaign to eliminate sexual
violence and inequity in Australian institutions.
By Patrick Avenell
A
zero-tolerance approach to sexual harassment and
violence on university campuses is the guiding principle
behind the ‘Respect. Now. Always.’ campaign that is uniting
higher education institutions across Australia. The details of this
campaign were recently fleshed out in Canberra at the Universities
Australia Higher Education Conference 2016.
The forum included current Australian of the Year
Lieutenant-General David Morrison, professor Andrea Durbach
from the Australian Human Rights Centre, preventative law expert
Adair Donaldson from Shine Lawyers, and national women’s officer
Heidi La Paglia from the National Union of Students. UNSW
vice-chancellor Ian Jacobs chaired the event.
Jacobs outlined how Respect. Now. Always. will tackle the
scourge of on-campus violence and harassment through an
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unprecedented collaboration among all major Australian universities.
Through Australia’s broad university network, the campaign has the
potential to reach 1.3 million staff and students, he said.
By openly sharing data among universities, the campaign intends
to collate and report reliable statistics on the amount of sexism,
sexual assault and sexual harassment incidents taking place on
campuses. Any successful methods to encourage reportage and
care for victims will be shared, as will strategies that can be used to
curb offences. As La Paglia noted in her presentation, tackling this
issue is hampered by widespread under-reporting of harassment.
Morrison related a story from his days as the chief of Army, when
he travelled to Sydney to meet a woman who had recently left the
service, and her mother. The former soldier told Morrison during
a two-hour, emotionally charged meeting, of how assault and
harassment – what he called “sexual degradation” and “predation” –
while in the Army had robbed her of her dignity and caused her to
quit. The mother, Morrison recounted, then looked straight into the
eyes of the chief of Army and said, “I gave you my daughter and this is
what you have done to her.” Morrison said he took the ‘you’ to mean
him personally, rather than the armed forces in general, and that this
moment caused him to rethink the policies of his organisation.
“I think [Respect. Now. Always.] is a fabulous initiative,” he said,
encouraging UA to go forth with the zero-tolerance campaign and
to stamp out gender inequality wherever it is found or however it
manifests, including in areas such as the pay gap.
Respect. Now. Always. has its roots in the Australian Defence
Force Academy Report, which was tabled in Parliament in 2011,
while Morrison was chief of Army, following the Defence Force
Skype scandal. The report stated, “ADFA is not alone in facing
these challenges [sexual harassment and assault]. Other tertiary
institutions and residential colleges have similar concerns.”
The issue bubbled away without a unified approach until a
second trigger catalysed greater organisation: last year’s release
of The Hunting Ground – a documentary feature about sexual
assault on American college campuses – thrust the issue into the
mainstream. The film was nominated for an Oscar in early 2016 and
is scheduled to be screened at universities around Australia.
Research plays a key role in Respect. Now. Always.’s path to
success. Durbach said a new survey will be rolled out in May to
“collate data on prevalence and reporting experiences” and to
“undertake comparative research on institutional responses to
sexual assault and harassment”. Following this, the campaign can
develop best-practice policies and protocols for universities.
Coming to the discussion from a legal perspective, Donaldson
focused his presentation on identifying and demonstrating how big
the problem is in Australia. “One in three women aged 15 years and
over have experienced physical violence in the last five years,” he
said. “One in four women have experienced physical violence over
the age of 15 and 1 in 5 women have experienced sexual violence
over the age of 15.”
Donaldson works with young men to impart knowledge and
skills to, essentially, keep them out of trouble. An example of
the work he is undertaking is with young rugby league players,
teaching them about what consent is from a legal perspective,
coaching them on making better choices and how to foster
respectful relationships, and delivering courses in ‘Sex and Ethics’.
Speaking from the perspective of students was La Paglia. She
said 72 per cent of female respondents had experienced sexual
assault or harassment while at university, and that 14 per cent