Claims emerge about ‘sexual assault and misogyny’ from male students toward female students at Balwyn High School

Balwyn High School students have lifted the lid on the “misogynistic” behaviour of male classmates after claims year nine and ten girls were ranked from most to least attractive.

Students took their claims of ‘sexual assault and misogyny’ to Balwyn High School principal Deborah Harman in March 2021.

Female Balwyn High School students last year claimed male students stalked them, touched them, masturbated in class, joked about rape and listed girls by their attractiveness.

The students took their claims of “sexual assault and misogyny” to principal Deborah Harman in March 2021, the Herald Sun can reveal.

They based their discussion on an anonymous survey filled out by 49 students. They were following the actions of Sydney woman Chanel Contos, which led to thousands of young women disclosing sexual assault, rape, harassment and abuse at the hands of their male peers.

The claims collected by the Balwyn High students include:

• The school failing to act on claims of sexual assault even when perpetrators were in the 2021 class level;

• Inappropriate touching and stalking of girls around the school and the use of derogatory names such as ‘sl*t’ ‘wh*re’ ‘bi*ch’ and ‘f**got’”;

An anonymous survey was filled out by 49 Balwyn High School students.

• Personal attacks, bullying, slut-shaming and intimidation of female students who were outspoken about sexual assault and harassment;

• Lists of the looks of girls in year nine and ten ranked from most to least attractive;

• Rape threats as a joke: “if you don’t do this I’ll rape you”;

• Boys masturbating in front of girls in class;

• Teachers telling girls to stop making a scene when calling out misogyny, racism, or homophobia in class.

The students said they went to Ms Harman after other teachers told them

“men suffer too” and that the survey – which did not mention gender – was an “attack on boys at the school”.

One of the petition’s creators, Jasmine De Marco, said she “believed the school had a duty of care but had pushed aside these issues”.

“Girls were literally assaulted at school and given detentions for their uniform being too short,” she said.

“The boys used to sit around and say that girls were ‘just holes to fill’ and other things like that and make jokes about consent and teachers would hear and not say anything,” Ms De Marco said.

“In 2020 we had Covid temperature checks and they would use this to hand out uniform detentions to girls even though our skirts were just above the knee,” she said.

The survey document also details a number of issues involving uniforms, including girls criticised for wearing short skirts and teachers saying “girls should know what they are doing” by wearing “such clothes”.

A male teacher, who was named, said he could see up the skirts in the class of the girls who were sitting on the floor, which was described as “creepy as f*ck” in one testimonial.

The survey also notes other uniform double standards between boys and girls at the school swimming carnival.

The Herald Sun reported last weekend that a girl at the school was told her short dress was “distracting” male teachers and staff – a claim allegedly denied by Ms Harman at a staff meeting on Monday.

Instagram comments from Balwyn High School students.

At the meeting with Ms Harmon last March the students asked for a “pledge to eradicate these behaviours and so the programs we implement this year do not fall apart or get pushed to the side when the 2021 year 12s’ graduate”.

A female student who helped design and collate the survey said she and others were very disappointed with the reaction to it.

“It was honestly the most disgusting thing I have ever had to go through to be honest,” she said. “We were trying to make the school a better place for other students and we were shut down and made to feel bad about it,” she said.

“They didn’t want us to talk about the stuff we were talking about in class – they said it was emotionally triggering and needed to be handled in a controlled environment.

“The survey wasn’t done out of malice or protest, it was done with co-operative intentions,” the student said.

“But our group was shut down by a male teacher. It was very emotional – we felt shamed and blamed for feeling that way. There was no attempt to debrief and no afterthought for the wellbeing being of the students.

“We were told to go to class and do our sacs (school assessments),” she said.

The school has been contacted for comment.

A Department of Education and Training spokesperson said: “Balwyn High School is an outstanding school with strong academic output that is led by one of Victoria’s best principals, and – as with any allegation by a student – has taken these claims seriously and addressed them appropriately and professionally.”