Authors of a groundbreaking report commissioned by End Rape on Campus are “disgusted” at the behaviour of elected student representatives of the University of Sydney, after they were filmed tearing the document to shreds in a council meeting last night.
The incident comes after six student students were expelled and 21 were suspended from St Paul’s, a residential college on campus, over horrific reports of a hazing incident involving the humiliation and sexual degradation of a male student.
End Rape on Campus’ 2018 report, The Red Zone Report: an investigation intosexual violence and hazing in Australian university colleges, details decades of hazing and abuse allegations against the residential colleges in Australian universities.
To have the document laughed at and torn up is a “slap in the face” for victim survivors, co-authors Nina Funnell and Sharna Bremner said.
Meanwhile, representatives from the Women’s Collective, who witnessed the incident take place, spoke to Women’s Agenda on the “horrific”, “vile” and “harmful” display, allegedly from college students, the Young Liberal Party and the USYD Conservative Club.
Spokespeople from the University of Sydney and St Paul’s College have said they are responding to both incidents and will take further action if necessary. The President of the Student Representative Council (SRC), Harrison Brennan, has deemed the actions of the councillors “deplorable” and, in a statement to Women’s Agenda, has called on the University to do more in its response.
Here’s everything you need to know.
The incident
Earlier this week, the media reported on the expulsion and suspension of several students who were residing at St Paul’s College at the University of Sydney (USYD). Founded in 1856, St Paul’s was the first all-boys residential college in Australia. It became co-educational just last year.
New details have come to light over the nature of the incident. According to reports, students at St Paul’s held a “mock trial” against a male student last week. Others played the role of judges, prosecutors and defence lawyers, and many were invited to attend, spectate and “examine evidence” against the “accused” – the victim of the incident.
Those involved in the mock trial then allegedly gagged the victim with a sex toy, before unleashing a tirade of verbal abuse against him.
This incident, reportedly a “hazing” activity, occurred last week, and disciplinary action against the students involved took place in a St Paul’s meeting on Monday night. Six students – those directly involved in the mock trial – were expelled, while the 21 spectators were suspended.
According to sources who spoke with the University of Sydney’s student newspaper, Honi Soit, all students expelled so far are male.
In a statement to Women’s Agenda, the University’s Deputy Vice-Chancellor (Education) Professor Joanne Wright said the University is “shocked and disappointed” over the incident, urging anyone affected by inappropriate behaviour to report it, and seek out support and wellbeing services.
“Any form of bullying or harassment is absolutely unacceptable and we support the disciplinary action the College has taken, and their commitment to review the training they provide to students,” Professor Wright said.
“While our affiliated residential colleges are independent, we endeavour to work together closely when issues arise, with the welfare of students our top priority. We are in contact with the College to understand the facts around what happened and the steps they are taking to manage this issue and ensure the safety and wellbeing of students, and to determine any additional measures we may need to take.
“All our investigations are undertaken with procedural fairness and the wellbeing of our community front of mind.”
Ed Loane, the warden at St Paul’s College, said to Women’s Agenda in a statement that the College is providing support and care to the victim and will continue to do “everything we can to provide a safe and respectful community”.
“The College has been shocked and deeply disappointed that some of our students engaged in serious bullying of another student within their friendship group. This behaviour is contrary to our values and standards,” Loane said.
“Our students receive training against bullying and harassment when they join the College. We will review and strengthen this training, and we will continue to ensure we are doing everything we can to provide a safe and respectful community.”
The SRC Meeting
Last month, USYD held an election for new student representatives on the SRC, the peak representative body that defends and advances the interests of undergraduate students.
On Wednesday night, the SRC held a meeting for the representatives-elect, where, in light of the incident at St Paul’s, representatives from the Women’s Collective distributed copies of End Rape on Campus’ 2018 report, The Red Zone Report.
As they were delivering a speech over the “cruel” behaviour at St Paul’s, two representatives-elect began tearing up the report. One student allegedly called out “no one cares”.
The incident was recorded on video, alongside images of a “Trump 2024” banner on display in the room.
According to Ed Loane, warden at St Paul’s, the students in the footage are not St Paul’s residents.
“The College supports all efforts to eradicate violence against women in Colleges, Universities and society more broadly,” Loane told Women’s Agenda in a statement.
Deputy-Vice Chancellor (Education) Professor Joanne Wright said the student representatives, while independent to the University, are required to follow certain policies and codes of conduct.
“We don’t hesitate to take action if we determine there has been a breach,” Professor Wright said in a statement.
Harrison Brennan, the President of the USYD SRC, said the actions of the councillors were “nothing short of deplorable”. Brennan, who belongs to left-wing faction Grassroots, has also criticised the University’s response to the matter.
“I am extremely disappointed with the University of Sydney’s response to this matter, which seeks to shift blame onto the SRC instead of acknowledging the deep-rooted issues and vile culture of the cultures,” Brennan said.
“It is not the SRC who has to answer for the actions of college students, but the colleges themselves as an institution and by extension its leadership.”
‘Horrific, vile, harmful’
Martha Barlow is one of the 2024 University of Sydney SRC Sexual Violence Officers, and was one of the women distributing copies of the report in the meeting on Wednesday night. While she found the behaviour of those mocking the report “horrific”, she also was not surprised.
“They laughed in my face, tore it up, and threw the pieces at us,” Barlow said.
“It is a quite frankly reprehensible display of misogyny to so blatantly laugh in the face of victim-survivors, and an incredibly telling one; just like the Colleges themselves, these student representatives would prefer to ignore the problem of sexual violence altogether and pretend it doesn’t exist.”
Ellie Robertson, another SRC Sexual Violence Officer, noted there were victim-survivors in the room where the Council meeting took place, and to tear up a report and mock it in front of them was “extremely vile and harmful”.
“After decades of abhorrent behaviour, we have seen no change of the elitist culture that the colleges uphold,” Robertson said.
“No student should have to fight to feel safe on their own campus and in their own living space.”
Rand Khatib, one of the 2024 SRC Women’s Officers, called for an end to residential colleges on campus, something the USYD Women’s Collective has been fighting for a long time.
“The colleges are places rampant with elitist culture, rape culture, and casual racism,” Khatib said. “They are archaic institutions for the white wealthy man, and they must go.”
‘A slap in the face’
The Red Zone Report was co-authored in 2018 by journalist and advocate, Nina Funnell, and founder and director of End Rape On Campus, Sharna Bremner.
The co-authors released a statement last night in response to the footage from the SRC meeting.
“We are disgusted by the behaviour of University of Sydney students at a meeting for Representatives Elect for the Student Representative Council tonight, who laughed about, and tore up copies of (the report),” the statement reads.
Funnell and Bremner said the report – which contains graphic information about the gang rape and murder of a woman, as well as alleged sexual abuse and the death by suicide of a woman – speaks not only to the “systemic issues at the university colleges”, but also the ongoing trauma felt by students and families of victims.
“The Red Zone report has differed from almost all of the other reports about sexual violence and hazing in Australia’s residential colleges because survivors and loved ones of those who didn’t survive went on record with their real names, real faces and real stories,” the statement from Funnell and Bremner reads.
“To hear current students remark ‘no one cares’ as they laughed about rape and hazing is not a slap in the face to us as The Red Zone authors. It is a slap in the face to those who were harmed in the colleges and survived, and to the loved ones of those who didn’t.”
Funnell and Bremner have vowed to continue their fight against this behaviour and ensuring “those responsible are held accountable”.
If you or someone you know is experiencing, or at risk of experiencing, domestic, family or sexual violence, call 1800RESPECT on 1800 737 732, text 0458 737 732 or visit 1800RESPECT.org.au for online chat and video call services.
If you are concerned about your behaviour or use of violence, you can contact the Men’s Referral Service on 1300 766 491 or visit www.ntv.org.au .
Feeling worried or no good? Connect with 13YARN Aboriginal & Torres Strait Islander Crisis Supporters on 13 92 76, available 24/7 from any mobile or pay phone, or visit www.13yarn.org.au. No shame, no judgement, safe place to yarn.