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Today we have seen confirmation of what students have been saying for decades. The rates of sexual assault and harassment at University campuses are staggeringly high.
In 2015/16 1.1% of UQ students have been sexually assaulted in a University setting.
28% have been sexually harassed on university grounds – or during travel to and from – in 2016 at UQ.
This is nearly 15, 000 UQ students in the past year alone that have experienced sexual violence or harassment.
“Survivors of sexual assault have been suffering for years due to Universities’ inaction on this issue. All Universities need to apologise to the survivors who have been let down by the system.” Said Vice President of Gender & Sexuality, Sabina Rooney.
Student Unions and activists have been pushing Universities to act on these issues for decades. We’re happy to see Universities finally being forced to take this seriously. We would like to recognise the hard work of the women who have been fighting this fight for decades. Your work has gotten us to the point at which we find ourselves today – the point where no one can ignore or deny the rates of sexual assault at Universities.
“The release of the Change the Course report has successfully started a long overdue conversation about sexual harassment and assault on university campuses. However, we need to ensure that the conversation continues beyond the hype of this report, in order to create lasting changes to the culture that normalises sexual violence.” Said UQ Union President, Gabii Starr.
Finally, to the survivors of sexual assault, harassment and rape. We believe you.
The University of Queensland Union is hosting a screening of the US documentary The Hunting Ground followed by an expert panel tomorrow on the 2/8, 6pm in the GHD Lecture Theatre of the Advanced Engineering Building.
For further comment please contact
Gabii Starr
UQ Union President president@uqu.com.au
Sabina Rooney
UQ Union Vice President (Gender & Sexuality).
women@uqu.com.au
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