Australian National University is being criticised for taking two years to respond to alarming 2017 statistics which found that 40 per cent of students had been sexually harassed in a 12-month period.
Students say that the plan to combat harassment and assault which was released on Thursday came about after a lot of pressure from student groups for the university to take action after the Australian Human Rights Commission report found rates of sexual assaults the ANU campus as more than double the national average.
The new sexual violence prevention strategy includes an online reporting tool for victims, a first responders network trial and plans to better engage male students, however, it’s still unclear when this will be rolled out and it may not be ready for new students in 2020, ABC reports.
In response to the delay, vice-chancellor Brian Schmidt apologised, saying it wasn’t because they didn’t find the issues important and told ABC the strategy is “a new beginning” for ANU.
