‘A boy came over. I knew him. He left me in my tears’
Some details in this story may be distressing for some readers.
Going away to university is a rite of passage, a ticket to freedom and young adulthood. But young women say even dorm rooms are not safe, and are calling for action around campus rape.
A Sunday Star-Times investigation found dozens of alleged sexual misconduct complaints recorded by staff at university halls of residence nationwide in the past two years. Only a handful were reported to police.
Concerns about campus sexual assault are driving tertiary institutions to enlist rape crisis services to educate first-year students on consensual sex.
Figures obtained under the Official Information Act show Wellington’s Victoria University and Dunedin’s Otago University had the highest number of sexual misconduct complaints reported by residents of the university’s halls of residences in 2016 and 2017. Victoria had eight recorded incidents, and Otago 14.
Some of these are alleged to have happened on campus, while others took place off-site.
Otago’s complaints included three sexual assaults, two of covert filming, and nine cases of unwanted comments or sexual advances and boundary issues.
Eight alleged perpetrators left their halls including three who left the university – one was expelled, and two left during the disciplinary process. In four cases complainants went to police, leading to two prosecutions and one conviction.
In the same period seven cases of sexual assault or harassment were recorded between Auckland University, AUT University, Massey University and Lincoln University. Canterbury University’s halls are privately managed, and figures could not be obtained.
Both Victoria and Otago stressed their proactive work around sexual violence prevention and highlighted the number of students in halls. Otago has 3500 living in 15 halls, while Victoria has about 2000 annually. Some of their halls are also operated privately.
Victoria University said all resident advisers were given sexual violence training, and oncampus and online consent campaigns were run regularly.
Otago residential colleges senior warden Jamie Gilbertson said drop-in centre Te Whare Ta¯wharau had been set up this year for students seeking support related to sexual violence.
‘I spent hours with young girls crying’
Two months ago, the Victoria University Students Association set up a #MeToo blog for people to share anonymous experiences. Welfare vice-president Bethany Paterson said many of the stories came from halls of residence, and had hit home.
‘‘It doesn’t surprise me that so many stories comes from halls, because it’s a bunch of young people put together and some of them don’t know what consent means. The rape culture we live in normalises this kind of thing, and I think a lot of people need to examine their behaviour.’’
One woman describes working as a resident adviser – a support person and mentor at university accommodation – and being shocked at what her job really entailed. ‘‘I wanted to be there for people who had experienced sexual assault. I thought there would be one, maybe two, people who needed me. I was so wrong. I spent hours sitting with young girls crying after being raped.’’
The hall she worked for brushed it off, she believed. ‘‘They didn’t want to know, they didn’t report anything for fear of media attention or losing their contract with the university.’’
Another woman said she had what started as consensual oral sex, until she began vomiting and crying as the young man forced her head down. ‘‘A boy came over. I knew him. He grabs my hair and forces me . . . he leaves me in my vomit and tears.’’
The blog is set to be delivered to Victoria University’s ViceChancellor, and the Wellington City Council.