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anu report reveals increasing reporting and disclosures of sexual misconduct JULIETTE BAXTER CW: Discussion of sexual assault, sexual harassment, and domestic violence At the ANU, reports of sexual misconduct in 2021 more than tripled compared to the year prior. This news comes to light as the University has released a Sexual Misconduct Reports and Disclosures Report for the first time, drawing from reports made to its Registrar Office and an online disclosures form. Students have increasingly made formal reports to the University Registrar’s Office, from four in 2019, to nine in 2020, up to 31 in 2021. On average, these reports were finalised within 27 working days. In cases where misconduct was found to occur, ten percent of offenders received conditions on their enrolment, thirty-eight percent were suspended or denied access to the University for a specified period of time, and fifty-two percent were excluded entirely, meaning that they ceased to be a student. In addition to increases in official reports of sexual misconduct, there has been an uptick in informal disclosures over time, from survivors, supporters of survivors, witnesses and staff. Between October 2019 to September 2020, 250 disclosures were made, which jumped to 366 disclosures in the period October 2020 to September 2021. A majority of the incidents disclosed impacted undergraduate students, which in October 2020 to September 2021 made up 81.1 percent of total disclosures. Furthermore, the majority of people impacted by incidents of sexual assualt or sexual harassment were living on campus, at 70.3 percent in October 2020 to September 2021.
The report also found that the majority of survivors were female and the majority of perpetrators were male undergraduate students. In 2020-2021, 76.2 percent of people impacted by incidents were female, 16.2 percent male, 3.2 percent non-binary, 0.5 percent gender non-conforming and 3.8 percent preferred not to disclose. The data shows that while many incidents, around one-third of the total, were disclosed within 24 hours to one week after occurring, another third were within one to three months, and a final third between one to three years afterwards. A range of behaviours were disclosed in the report, which, in 2020-2021, included sexual harassment (55.3 percent), sexual assault (43.5 percent), domestic and family violence (1.2 percent), and bullying and harassment (0 percent). The University “would like to thank survivors for coming forward” and aims for the report to be survivor-centric and suggests the report “shows more and more people are feeling comfortable about coming forward.” An ANU spokesperson clarified that the report “is not about prevalence” but rather is “support information that shows our commitment to transparency and accountability” which they hope to continue with annual reports in the future. Likewise, the University spokesperson highlighted the ANU’s ongoing commitment to prevention and support of students in relation to incidents of sexual assault and harassment.
