Online sexual harassment rose sharply for university students during Covid-19 lockdowns and remote learning, including on private messages during Zoom lectures, a report has found.
The national student safety survey, released by Universities Australia on Wednesday, found one in 20 students had been sexually assaulted since starting university and one in six had been sexually harassed. The survey of 43,189 students was conducted by the Societal Research Centre.
Rates of harassment and assault were highest for gender diverse students, with 13.7% of transgender students and 22.4% of non-binary students saying they had experienced sexual harassment since staring university.
Students who lived in on campus accommodation or student housing were also more likely to have experienced sexual assault or harassment, with 6% reporting having been sexually assaulted in the past 12 months, compared with 1.1% of the student body as a whole.
Interviews with 1,800 students revealed an increase in online harassment. Students said they had been “pestered” to send nude photos by fellow students or been sent nude photos without their consent. They also reported having male students “message me inappropriately during online classes”.
Prof John Dewar, chair of Universities Australia, said the survey results were “distressing, disappointing and confronting”.
“As a nation, this cannot be tolerated, and as a sector, we will continue to be part of the solution,” he said.
Dewar offered an “unreserved apology” to those affected.
“To every single University student who has experienced sexual harassment or sexual assault, or has a friend, family member or loved one who has – I am sorry,” he said, in a video statement released alongside the report. “I am sorry for what you endured. I am sorry for how that may have affected your relationships, your mental health, your studies and your life.”
The figures in the 2021 survey showed some improvement on those in a landmark 2016 survey conducted by the Australian Human Rights Commission, but the change has been slow.
Only 3% of students who were sexually harassed while at university and 5.6% of those who were sexually assaulted made a formal report to their education institution about the incident. And of those who reported, half felt the university did not explain the complaints process to them.
Just 41.3% of those who reported sexual harassment and 29.7% of those who experienced sexual assault were satisfied with the reporting process.
Universities Australia cautioned against direct comparisons between the 2016 and 2021 because the survey methodology had changed.
