Melbourne University students allege sexual assault, racism claims went ignored

Students from Melbourne Uni claim sexual assault allegations went ignored, with one staff member allegedly advising them to take the abuse “as compliments”.

Former students from Melbourne University’s Victorian College of the Arts have alleged university staff failed to act on multiple reports of racial harassment and sexual assault, with the claims dating back to 2019.

Theatre students Mia Boonen, 21, Antoinette Tracey, 21, and Sinead Fernandes, 21, claim an unnamed male VCA student has since been readmitted to the university.

News.com.au understands that at there around a dozen other allegations made against the student on the grounds of sexual assault, assault, harassment and racial abuse.

In response, students from VCA walked out in protest on February 28, claiming the uni has failed to protect them.

Antoinette Tracey, Sinead Fernandes and Mia Boonen (l-r) claim the University of Melbourne failed to protect them after coming forward with allegations of sexual assault and racial abuse against another student. Picture: Supplied

“I am a theatre student at the VCA. In 2019, I was groped on campus by another student, and despite attempting to report it at the time, it was two more years before any action was taken,” Ms Boonen wrote on Twitter.

“In those two years, he harmed and was reported by many others. Today he was allowed on campus. Despite still having subjects before graduating, I cannot risk attending Uni until I know that he’s gone.”

Ms Tracey and Ms Fernandes claim that when they attempted to report the alleged perpetrator’s behaviour they were told by a VCA teacher to “view sexual and racial acts of violence as compliments”.

Students staged a walk-out on Monday morning.

“We were told we’d never make it in the industry if we continued to speak out about injustices,” Ms Tracey wrote on Instagram.

“We were told that if he were to self-harm it would be because we ostracised him. We were told that our past experience of sexual assault and the possibility of us being on our periods made us unreliable in our assessment of the situation.”

Ms Fernandes – who alleges she was subjected to sexual, physical and racially inappropriate behaviour – said the teacher told her “racial harassment ‘doesn’t matter’” and that “race was ‘besides the point’”.

“We were told that bringing this issue forward would do nothing but complicate things and we pleaded to not be in the same room as him she said, ‘well he is paying fees, too,’” Ms Fernandes wrote.

“We were promised special consideration and left with unanswered emails. Never in my life have I felt so robbed of basic human rights. And the cherry on top – we were practically paying to be abused.”

Unimelb treats its survivors like a PR crisis. As union women's officer, I spent everyday last year crying about how little the uni cares, and how every "policy" is rushed to make them "look good". My solidarity with @msboonen and her VCA peers today. Survivors deserve better.

— Srishti Chatterjee 🏳️‍⚧️ (@srxshteax) March 1, 2022

In a statement to news.com.au, a spokesman for the University of Melbourne said the uni was first formally advised of alleged misconduct in 2021 and “took appropriate action to address and respond to the concerns raised”.

He confirmed the disciplinary process on the matter has since concluded.

“Student misconduct is taken seriously by the university,” he said.

“We are not able to comment on the specifics of this matter, however the University has taken appropriate steps to respond to the issues raised, in line with our policy settings and values.”

He also urged students who “have concerns over this matter” to contact the university’s Safer Community Program.

The university declined to comment on whether further investigations or disciplinary measures would be taken into the alleged actions of the teacher in question.

In coming forward with their allegations, Ms Boonen, Ms Tracey and Ms Fernandes have called on the University of Melbourne to recommit to a “zero tolerance policy” for harassment and abuse.

They also say more stringent training is needed on how to “effectively and kindly respond to disclosure by students”.

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