University of Sydney investigating reports ‘young man’ seen filming female students in toilet cubicles
Police and the University of Sydney are investigating reports a man has been filming female students using bathrooms on campus, releasing an image of a man they believe can assist them.
Police and the University of Sydney are investigating reports an unknown man has been prowling in the women’s bathrooms at its Camperdown campus, filming female students without their knowledge or consent.
Warnings from students have been circulating on social media since Thursday afternoon alerting their peers to the presence of a “young male” taking pictures and videos “of women in the bathroom cubicles”.
“Reports have been made to campus security,” the Instagram post reads, urging students to “please be careful going into the women’s bathroom on campus”.
University of Sydney student Emily Bentancort said she witnessed the incident when she walked in to use the bathrooms near a food court in the Wentworth Building, across City Road from the main campus, just before midday on Thursday.
The location of the toilets, which were “hidden” behind lockers, led her to believe that the alleged perpetrator was well-acquainted with the university campus.
“I open the door, and I see this male holding his phone, he had his camera app open with his arm up,” she said.
Ms Bentancort alleges the girl in the cubicle could be seen using the toilet on the phone’s screen.
“I was in complete shock, I said ‘what the hell, what are you doing?’” she said.
“He turned around, and said ‘I’m sorry, I’m sorry’, and turned and tried to escape.
“I tried to grab him – I was trying to take a picture of him and he ran off.
“I stayed to tell the women what had happened … it’s such a vulnerable situation.”
None of the three women were aware that they had allegedly been filmed, she said.
Ms Bentancort said the situation has left her afraid of using the bathroom while at university, choosing to leave campus to use the bathroom at a nearby shopping centre instead.
NSW Police confirmed they are investigating the incident, releasing a CCTV image on Friday evening of a man they believe can assist in their inquiries.
The man is described as being of Asian appearance, of medium build with black hair.
In the vision, he is depicted wearing black pants, a black top, a dark grey jacket, white runners and is carrying a light blue backpack.
A spokeswoman for the university confirmed a report had been received, and encouraged anyone who witnessed the incident or believes they were filmed to contact USYD’s specialist office for sexual misconduct support.
“We’re very concerned by this report, and are looking into it as a matter of urgency,” she said.
“The alleged conduct is distressing and we encourage anyone affected – including anyone who may have been present, or believes they may have been filmed – to let our specialist Safer Communities office know so we can provide appropriate support and information on further services that are available.
“Recording an intimate image of another person without their consent breaks the law and is utterly unacceptable.
“Whenever we have concerns about illegal behaviour on our campuses we co-operate fully with the police as required.”
Universities in Australia and around the world have faced a reckoning in recent years over sexual assaults and other forms of sexual misconduct on campus, leading the Australian government to pass new legislation to force institutions to take preventive action.
The National Higher Education Code to Prevent and Respond to Gender-based Violence passed parliament in August and requires universities – and the student accommodation providers they operate – to meet a series of gender-based violence response and prevention standards or risk fines and losing their accreditation.
Complaints related to sexual misconduct have almost doubled at the University of Sydney from 29 in 2023 to 55 last year, according to its third annual report on the matter.
The university received 231 reports in total, more than half of which were disclosures made by people who did not want the uni to investigate or take further actions, and included 84 incidents not related to the uni itself.
