Sexual Assault Prevention Plan at Murdoch University: An Essay

This essay addresses the critical issue of sexual assaults, particularly within the context of Murdoch University. It begins by highlighting the prevalence of sexual assaults in universities, drawing on statistics and examples from various institutions, including Murdoch University. The essay then transitions into proposing a crime prevention plan, informed by crime prevention theories and focusing on modifying criminal opportunities. Key strategies include identifying hotspots for sexual violence, addressing the role of alcohol, emphasizing the university's duty of care, promoting a zero-tolerance policy, and establishing partnerships with local businesses to provide safe refuges for students. The essay also suggests practical measures such as night safe schemes, safe taxi programs, and enhanced orientation programs. It concludes by referencing Murdoch University's existing efforts, such as the "Respect. Now. Always." campaign, and underscores the need for continued vigilance and proactive measures to ensure student safety.

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Essay
Tackling sexual assaults
15-Apr-18
(Student Details: )

Essay
Introduction
Sexual assault, as the name suggests, is such an act whereby an individual touches or
comes in contact with another individual in a sexual manner, without the consent of such other
individual, or involves such other person being physically forced or coerced to engage in sexual
acts with the first person, against the will of the second person (Searles, 2018). Sexual assault is
covered under sexual violence and is prohibited. Where it takes place, it is deemed as a criminal
offence, attracting severe punishment. Sexual assault is a crime which takes in every aspect, in
terms of professional, personal and even educational life of individuals (DeMatteo, Galloway,
Arnold & Patel, 2015). Again, this is not something which is restricted to females alone, and
male or the member of LGBT communities, too have to face instances of sexual assault (Ford &
Soto-Marquez, 2016). Murdoch University is also facing concerns in context of sexual assaults
and this requires an immediate adoption of crime prevention plans, and to implement them, in
order to eradicate such instances from the university, and to build a culture, where the same is
translated out of the university also. This discussion presents such crime prevention plan against
sexual assaults, and draws on the knowledge regarding crime prevention theories, patters, and the
capacity of modifying the criminal opportunities.
Prevalence of Crime at universities: Statistics and Examples
Before discussing on the gravity of this crime and going in the prevention plans, there is a
need to highlight the crime patters of sexual assaults, not only in Murdoch Universities, but in
other universities as well. A research conducted in 2017 brought forth the prevalence of sexual
assaults and harassments in the universities of Australia (Zhou, 2017). The Australian Human
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Rights Commission surveyed 30,000 students from WA universities for the Change the Course
report and their findings were declared as being very concerning. Nearly half of the students
stated that they had been sexually harassed a minimum of one time in 2016 alone, where one in
five had experienced this in the university setting. So, 51% had been harassed and 6.9% had been
sexually assaulted (Gerard Malouf & Partners, 2018).
7% of the overall students had experienced sexual assault and in 2015/2016, 1.6% of
these instances occurred in the universities. The commission received hundreds of deeply
personal submission, where a number of them got included in the report. One of such cases was
of a male student who had exposed his genitalia in the middle of a lecture to a female. There
have been statements in the past by the five universities in WA regarding making the campuses
safer for the community and for the students. Particularly, the Murdoch University Vice
Chancellor stated that 456 of their university students had participated in this survey and also
stated that the sexual assault at Murdoch University was quite lower in comparison to the
national average (Butterly, 2017).
The other university cases included women being groped during class by men, rape
taking place after college party, rape of a woman by senior student leader running orientation
week camp, and female student being sexually harassed during commute to home on public
transport by a lecturer (Australian Human Rights Commission, 2017). Sexual assaults like this
take place at the residential college or university social events, in the college setting and even on
public transport. The fact which is disturbing here is that such instances continue to exist and
there is still presence of such behaviors which cover sexual assault, which is a deeply concerning
issue. A perception has been formed amongst the students that the college staff is aware of such
instances or conduct, and yet they do nothing to stop its occurrence. There were a high number
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of victims who did not take a formal action as they were unsure of the seriousness of such
incident (Butterly, 2017). The situation is not grim here only but in other universities across the
globe. There were at least 120 students in Canberra based universities who had been sexually
assaulted and there were around one thousand sexually harassed which included both in
residential colleges and campuses in the last two years. There were a high number of sexual
assault survivors in Australian National University where 116 students in 2016 had been sexually
assaulted (Baker, 2017).
Such instances have resulted in student led campaigns demanding an end to sexual
violence. The findings have shown that 70% of female students and 26% male students had
experienced sexual violence, where nearly one out of ten female students had been raped at
university. Students work, live, socialize and study together, which often makes it difficult for
them to speak regarding sexual violence and often seek help without being judged. The student
bubble often creates a problem for the survivors and victims who have to share the social spaces,
lectures and halls with their attackers. As per the survey conducted by Revolt Sexual Assault, the
ones who had experienced sexual violence at the university, twenty five percent of those skipped
lectures, and sixteen percent dropped out of or suspended their degree (Winrow, 2018).
Brining out new policies based on suggestions of literature
In this context, the literature suggests that there is a need to identify the hot spots for
instances of sexual violence (Searles, 2018). Where the aim is for the students to get a positive
student experience and for them to reach their true potential, there is a need for the universities to
curb instances of sexual violence at the campuses. There is a need to target the resources and
efforts on such areas where there is a major portion of such instances occurring, which includes
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the social occasions and the social spaces like shops and university bars. A majority of criminal
researches have established that alcohol plays a major role in instances of sexual assaults taking
place (Lorenz & Ullman, 2016). The crime prevention theories have suggested the need of
identifying the root cause of problem and then drawing out the solutions to such plans (Tilley, &
Sidebottom, 2017; Riedel, & Welsh, 2015). As per Drinkaware, around 72% of the women
belonging to 18 to 24 years of age had been sexually harassed on night outs. The students of
universities fall in this category at majority instances (Winrow, 2018). National Union of
Students (2011) Hidden Marks have highlighted that the victims in 50% cases believe that the
perpetrators had been under the influence of alcohol when indulging in such acts.
Duty of care
The role of universities in this context is important as they owe a duty of care towards
their students. They need to send clear message on such behavior not being tolerated in any case,
despite of the place where such instance takes place. Even though the traditional model of
security at campuses is focused on protecting the property, the more enlightened universities had
adopted a more student centric approach. And for such institutions, the duty of care is not limited
to campus boundaries or the normal working hours. In this context, there is a need to learn from
the other universities and adopt the programs which they have adopted for tacking the instances
of sexual assault at their universities. For instance, the University of Sheffield’s have adopted
“Ask for Angela” campaign. As per this campaign, the students can discreetly get help from door
staff or from bar where someone makes them uncomfortable by asking for Angela. Apart from
this, the universities can come up with Departure Lounge concept, which is a safe space for club
nights. Such places can be run by sabbatical officers who give their support and also help the
students in reaching their homes in a safe manner. This requires the training of staff which would
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make them capable of intervening and in responding to the instances of sexual violence in an
appropriate manner (Winrow, 2018).
Zero tolerance
There is a dire need to propagate the zero tolerance messages across the universities.
Every person at the university and even outside it needs to be aware of the fact that such
behavior or conduct, which results in or even, attracts sexual abuse, is unwelcomed and is to be
taken as an offence, making it an intolerable conduct or behavior (Jacobs, 2016). There is also a
need to understanding what goes in the mind of culprits before adopting such measures. For
instance, the instances of sexual assault becomes public knowledge and the culprit being
publically identified, in terms of being caught is one of the measures of stopping crime. There is
also a need to establish partnership with the businesses, to take a wider approach in this matter,
whereby the students can be made to feel supported and safe. In this context, there is a need to
bring out the local businesses, which can offer refuge to the students where they feel threatened
or distressed. The businesses which participate in this initiative can put in stickers or banners to
let the students know that they can seek refuge there and that they are safe in such businesses
(Winrow, 2018). The partnerships are a key recommendation under the crime prevention theories
(Miller, Hess & Orthmann, 2013). However, in this regard, there is a need to choose the
businesses carefully, where they are not only trained, but are checked thoroughly based on their
backgrounds, to ensure that the shelter does not become an abuse prison for the students. The
literature suggests that often the rescuers become the offenders, and there is a need to ensure that
this measure does not translate into one (Kaplan, 2015; Wooten & Mitchell, 2016).
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Some other measures
There is a need to propagate the night safe schemes run by the student volunteers,
whereby they are constantly in connection with the door staff, and police through radio,
particularly in the clubs and bar areas of the city. Such volunteers not only have to be trained in
conflict management, but they also need to be trained in first aid, so as the same can be provided
to the vulnerable individuals. There is a need to deploy such volunteer groups in the parking
areas of the university as well, as these areas are prone to sexual assaults, due to them being
vacant at late hours. A noteworthy scheme which can be adopted by the universities is the safe
taxi scheme, where they let the students book secure vehicles which are tracked through GPS and
where the payment can be made through student ID card, where the wallet of the student is lost,
which can be later on collected from the union of students in exchange of their taxi fare
(Winrow, 2018). Such taxi schemes have to be put up at the main campus entrance, from A to E.
All the plans which are adopted, along with the zero tolerance policy, needs to be placed in the
Student Hub area; this will allow for the students to be aware of the support presented to them by
the university to ensure their safety and that the university is serious about its fight against sexual
assault.
Present steps taken to mitigate such instances
The university has already joined in with the other Australian universities in its fights
against sexual assault and harassment. The campaign of “Respect. Now. Always.” needs to
further be propagated to raise the awareness regarding sexual harassment and assault and to bring
forth the visibility of support services for the Australian university students (Murdoch
University, 2016). Even a single incident of sexual abuse is a case of too many abuses and
cannot be tolerated. There is a need to redraft the orientation programs for informing them on the
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seriousness which this issue is being given, and in raising the awareness regarding crucial
matters like consent and appropriate behaviors. In the tech savvy world, there is a need to
propagate the use of MurdochSafe App, which is a free and custom made safety app, which
would allow the students to notify the campus security regarding their location, and would also
allow for them to connect to emergency services and police (Murdoch University, 2017).
Conclusion
Thus, on the basis of the discussion undertaken in the previous segments, it can be
concluded that there is an immediate need to adopt a range of measures in the university, to
avoid and stop the instances of sexual assault from taking place. Even though based on the
national average, the instances of sexual assault are very less in the university, but till the time
there is a single instance of such assault taking place, these measures have to be constantly
adopted and deployed. The measures summarized above have been adopted by other universities
as well, and are based on the crime prevention theories. It is expected that these measures would
help the university in dealing with the instances of sexual assaults.
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References
Australian Human Rights Commission. (2017). Change the Course: National Report on Sexual
Assault and Sexual Harassment at Australian Universities 2017. Australia: CreateSpace
Independent Publishing Platform.
Baker, E. (2017). Canberra universities pledge action to tackle sexual assault on campus.
Retrieved from: http://www.canberratimes.com.au/act-news/canberra-universities-
pledge-action-to-tackle-sexual-assault-on-campus-20170801-gxmsur.html
Butterly, N. (2017). One in five students sexually harassed at Australian universities: report.
Retrieved from: https://thewest.com.au/news/education/one-in-five-students-sexually-
harassed-at-australian-universities-report-ng-b88554636z
DeMatteo, D., Galloway, M., Arnold, S., & Patel, U. (2015). Sexual assault on college
campuses: A 50-state survey of criminal sexual assault statutes and their relevance to
campus sexual assault. Psychology, Public Policy, and Law, 21(3), 227.
Dir, A. L., Riley, E. N., Cyders, M. A., & Smith, G. T. (2018). Problematic alcohol use and
sexting as risk factors for sexual assault among college women. Journal of American
college health. https://doi.org/10.1080/07448481.2018.1432622
Ford, J., & Soto-Marquez, J. G. (2016). Sexual assault victimization among straight, gay/lesbian,
and bisexual college students. Violence and gender, 3(2), 107-115.
Gerard Malouf & Partners. (2018). Are universities doing enough to tackle sexual assault on
campuses? Retrieved from:
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https://www.gerardmaloufpartners.com.au/DailyLegalNews/6060792-Are-universities-
doing-enough-to-tackle-sexual-assault-on-campuses.aspx
Jacobs, I. (2016). Australian universities have zero tolerance for sex assaults on campus.
Retrieved from: https://www.smh.com.au/opinion/australian-universities-have-zero-
tolerance-for-sex-assaults-on-campus-20160513-goulv3.html
Kaplan, J. (2015). Radical Religion and Violence: Theory and Case Studies. Oxon: Routledge.
Lorenz, K., & Ullman, S. E. (2016). Alcohol and sexual assault victimization: Research findings
and future directions. Aggression and violent behavior, 31, 82-94.
Miller, L., Hess, K., & Orthmann, C. (2013). Community policing: Partnerships for problem
solving. Nelson Education.
Murdoch University. (2016). Panel Event focusing on sexual assault/harassment as part of the
Respect. Now. Always. Campaign. Retrieved from: http://events.murdoch.edu.au/id/4522/
Murdoch University. (2017). Respect. Now. Always. Retrieved from:
http://media.murdoch.edu.au/respect-now-always
National Union of Students. (2011). Hidden Marks. Retrieved from:
https://www.nus.org.uk/Global/NUS_hidden_marks_report_2nd_edition_web.pdf
Riedel, M., & Welsh, W. N. (2015). Criminal violence: Patterns, causes, and prevention.
Oxford: Oxford University Press.
Searles, P. (2018). Rape and society: Readings on the problem of sexual assault. Oxon:
Routledge.
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Tilley, N., & Sidebottom, A. (Eds.). (2017). Handbook of crime prevention and community
safety. London: Taylor & Francis.
Winrow, L. (2018). Universities must tackle sexual violence on and off campus. Retrieved from:
https://theconversation.com/universities-must-tackle-sexual-violence-on-and-off-campus-
93887
Wooten, S. C., & Mitchell, R. W. (Eds.). (2016). Preventing Sexual Violence on Campus:
Challenging Traditional Approaches Through Program Innovation. London: Taylor &
Francis.
Zhou, N. (2017). Sexual assault report: universities called on to act on 'damning' figures.
Retrieved from: https://www.theguardian.com/australia-news/2017/aug/01/sexual-
assault-report-universities-called-on-to-act-on-damning-figures
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