ANU: John XXIII College sued over woman’s alleged rape at booze-fuelled “pub golf” event
An ACT Supreme Court trial is set to expose heavy drinking, hazing - including games of ‘vom tag’ and ‘piss tag’ - and sexual assault at the Australian National University’s John XXIII College, the court has heard.
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A former university student was raped after a booze-fuelled Australian National University college function, one of many at which students were encouraged to drink so much they vomited or passed out, a court has heard.
The woman, who can’t be named for legal reasons, is suing John’s XXIII College and its residents association over the incident, after a “pub golf” night in 2015, claiming the college and the association each failed in their duty of care to her.
On the first day of the trial in the ACT Supreme Court on Monday, her barrister, Tony Bartley SC, said he would prove there was a culture of hazing and heavy drinking at the campus, including referring to a neighbouring oval as “rape oval”.
Older-year male students, Mr Bartley said, would get drunk at functions and play “piss tag” and “vom tag”, a game that involved urinating or vomit on younger students to mark them as having leadership potential at the student dorm.
“I think ‘vom tag’ would rate as hazing, I think ‘piss tag’ would rate as hazing,” he said.
Mr Bartley said the college portrayed itself as a place where students would be cared for, but ended up being “the exact opposite of that”.
The woman says she was raped on a “pub golf” night, where attendees were required to drink a minimum “par” of grog at bars around Canberra.
“It’s not easy to comprehend, even for golfers,” Mr Bartley said.
The woman cannot remember the alleged rape, and found out about it only after the alleged perpetrator began boasting about it to his mates.
Mr Bartley said the college had watered down its rules on reporting student misconduct.
He said there was a culture of “stupendous” drinking, including a “sister city type” sponsorship with a local bar, Mooseheads.
Young women, he said, were referred to as “dingoes”, a term which was synonymous with being a “sl*t”.
Later-year college students were referred to as “boars”, he said.
A college staffer who investigated the sexual assault claim went on to take the side of the alleged rapist, saying: “He seems like a good kid … I really hammered him to try and get it out of him … he was very drunk and there comes a point where young men cannot perform”, Mr Bartley said.
The trial will hear there were concerns from the university that Johns students openly joking about sexual assault, and allegations of a practice known as “rocks spidering” where a woman responding to a knock on her door late at night was interpreted as sexual consent.
The trial continues.