Massive under-reporting of sexual harassment and misconduct uncovered at UC

Newfound statistics show a significant under-reporting of sexual harassment and misconduct at the University of Canterbury, which many say is due to the flawed reporting process. IMAGE/Canta/Vidha Saeed.

A concerning under-reporting of sexual harassment and misconduct has been uncovered at the University of Canterbury.

Acquired by Canta through an OIA, reporting statistics at UC were shown to be extremely low. Over the past five years there has been a total of 15 reports of sexual harassment and misconduct made to the university, against other UC students or staff members.

According to Thursday in Blacks 2017 survey, 83% of tertiary students experienced sexual assault. In a 2019 sexual experiences survey, two-thirds of students were assaulted by another student at their university.

President of the University of Canterbury chapter of Thursdays in Black, Hannah Leach, said the numbers from UC were not at all representative.

“There are way more instances of sexual harassment on campus or within the campus community that aren’t being reported,” she said.

One of the reasons she said this may be, is due to the reporting process the university currently has.

“The whole reporting process in general has issues... it can be really scary for the survivor and there’s a big fear of not being believed.”

“On campus it can be tricky to find where to get support.”

Up until recently, UC has not had a designated sexual harassment policy, instead it has come under a Harassment and Bullying policy which has not been updated since 2019.

The link to the webpage for “help” on the policy, does not exist.

Canta sent questions to the University and tried to contact UC’s sexual harm and prevention officer. Instead, a statement attributed to an unnamed spokesperson was supplied.

“UC is committed to providing a safe and secure environment for all students and staff and aims to create a culture of belonging where help is always on hand.”

“All complaints are taken seriously, and the University has a clear process for reporting misconduct for both students and staff.”

The total amount of sexual harassment and misconduct complaints made to the University of Canterbury against students and staff over the past five years (Canta OIA).

A student who went through the UC sexual assault reporting process themselves, who Canta has agreed to keep anonymous, said their experience with the process was less than clear.

After taking their complaint to the University, they were subjected to several meetings with several different people.

They said they had to re-live their experience at least five times, excluding emails.

“It became meeting after meeting after meeting of the same kind of people, plus or minus one person,” they said.

“It became me having to tell everything that happened which I guess retraumatized me... I was telling all these people very intimate details that I hadn’t fully processed or healed from.”

After getting deep into the process, they were told that due to the assaults happening off campus, there was nothing the university could do. Despite the abuser being a student.

The draft of the new Harmful Sexual Behaviour Prevention and Response Policy only applies to UC students and staff when they are on campus or at a university event.

UC recently released a new sexual behaviour and response policy, which took submissions several weeks ago. The policy states that it only applies to members of the University community when “engaged in University activities or on University premises.”

A stipulation that Leach thinks is a major barrier to students getting help.

“That [policy scope] makes it a lot more difficult because yes, some of the times it will happen on campus but a lot of the time it will happen between students off campus and that’s equally important,” she said.

According to the Ministry of Justice Crime and Victims Survey, almost half of all sexual assaults occur at residential locations. For students this can often look like flats.

The anonymous student said that having an ‘on campus only’ policy to them felt like a “cop out of responsibility.”

“There’s so many barriers and I think that a lot of why people don’t report it is because it’s just so hard and complicated.”

Moving forward Leach thinks that having University support and improved reporting processes are vital, why she says? “Because it’s happening and because it’s the reality.”

If you need to talk to somebody, Safe to Talk are available 24/7 on 0800 044 334.
Aviva Christchurch are also available 24/7 at 0800 28482 669 or at avivafamilies.org.nz.