Sex assaults at schools, universities up by 70%

Police are receiving just over 70% more sexual assault reports from people in schools and universities than five years ago, according to data received in an Official Information Act request.

In 2021, 237 people reported being sexually assaulted at an education facility – compared with 139 reports in 2015 and 129 in 2016. So far this year, more than 45 people in schools and universities reported sexual assaults to police.

Kathryn McPhillips, executive director of HELP Auckland, said that the numbers represent just a small proportion of sexual assaults in our education system.

‘‘The demand for service is far more than we can meet. And there is a really desperate need for more workforce. People are waiting and waiting and waiting, which is a terrible thing,’’ she said.

However, McPhillips said that a rise in police reports did not necessarily mean a rise in sexual violence. ‘‘There has been a change in young people in high school – their calls for consent education, their outrage at some experiences of sexual assault.

‘‘More young people are standing up and saying, ‘This happened to me, and it’s not OK’,’’ she said

Melanie Beres, associate professor at Otago University and sexual violence researcher, said the increase in reports was ‘‘actually a good start’’.

‘‘One of the first things that happens when you increase awareness of a crime is an increase in reporting,’’ she said.

Rates of sexual violence are highest for people aged between 16 and 24, those likely to be in high school and university.

‘‘The next step is getting people to engage in prevention and to start in really challenging some of the underlying kinds of beliefs that lead to sexual assault.

‘‘Start changing rape culture. Start challenging those gendered ideas that support sexual assault

and start challenging the behaviours that lead to sexual violence,’’ Beres said.

Detective Senior Sergeant David Kirby agrees with Beres and McPhillips. ‘‘Sexual assaults across the country are hugely under-reported. Police surveys show that we only hear about between 5% and 12% [of sexual assaults],’’ he said.

‘‘In that sense, an increase is good, because that means more people are telling the police and the authorities about it. But it

‘‘Sexual assaults across the country are hugely underreported.’’ Detective Senior Sergeant David Kirby

doesn’t necessarily mean that there’s more of it going on.’’

More than a third of all New Zealand’s university students have been sexually assaulted, according to a 2019 survey.

‘‘Any level of sexual violence is not acceptable. If you see or anyone you are aware of is a victim, please make a point of reporting to police or someone else who you trust ... we have specialist investigators and there are specialist sexual violence support services,’’ Kirby said.