How Hayley took control of her personal safety

Like many people, but especially women, Hayley Jiang will take precautions to ensure her safety.

“I look behind me if I’m walking at night, and especially if it’s a dark street,” the 22-year-old says. “I will avoid those dark streets.”

She’ll also let others in her personal community know her whereabouts.

UNSW student Hayley Jiang.

“If I’m going somewhere, or meeting up with somebody I don’t know, I will let someone know that I’m doing this and they will receive a text message from me,” she explains.

It’s an unfortunate reality that for many people these types of precautions are needed to feel safe when out.

The scale of a university campus, which often replicates a small city, is no different to any other public environment.

Different buildings and a varied study timetable can have you traversing a large campus by foot at all hours of the day, sometimes among a throng of fellow students and at other times when the landscape can feel deserted.

Plus, there’s the social side of university life, a time for mingling at the many clubs, associations, sports and other activities that are all designed to foster fun and connections when not in class.

For those starting university, used to classes during the daytime, the prospect of having evening classes or walking across campus after hours might feel unnerving.

However, universities across Australia are committed to making uni life safer for all. Jiang, who has been at the University of NSW for the past five years studying a bachelor of engineering honours and a bachelor of arts, says she hasn’t felt the need to employ her usual strategies and feels safe on campus.

Checking in with friends is important for student safety.

The SafeZone security and wellbeing mobile phone app “is a great resource”, she adds. UNSW, as well as the Universities of Melbourne, Queensland, Tasmania, SA and WA, and more, use SafeZone, which allows users to quickly share their location details with university security teams in the event of an emergency, among other features.

“It’s a very good app in terms of student safety,” says Jiang, who has used it, although “not extensively”.

UNSW provides a range of services covering health, safety and wellbeing, and offers a “Safety and Wellbeing Online Tutorial” to help students navigate issues of personal safety.

Jiang herself recalls attending various information sessions. Not only do these services empower individual students regarding their own safety – in terms of what to do and where to go for assistance and support – but Jiang says it also educates students in becoming active bystanders.

“It’s through education that students become more informed,” she says. “Enabling the bystander to support someone going through gendered violence is really important as well.”

The umbrella organisation Universities Australia – which has 39 member universities – has released a Charter On Sexual Harm, where signatories are committed to confronting this major societal problem.

“Sexual harm is abhorrent and has no place in our society, which is why we’re committed to taking stronger action,” Universities Australia chair Professor David Lloyd has commented.

“This charter will drive new and improved measures to build on the many initiatives already in place at organisations across the nation. We’ve listened and we’re acting. It’s what everyone needs and deserves.”

Earlier this year, the University of Melbourne released its 2023 Sexual Misconduct Annual Report, the third report of its kind which is intended to demonstrate the university’s commitment to transparency and accountability as it works to prevent these issues on campus.

Similarly, Deakin University releases annually its Respect and Sexual Harm Prevention Report, which is one part of the university’s broader four-year Respect and Sexual Harm Plan, while Monash University publicly releases its own sexual harm reporting data every 12 months and produces a Sexual Harm Prevention and Response Annual Report.

“Education is the cornerstone of our approach,” explains University of Melbourne provost Professor Nicola Phillips. “In semester one this year, we launched our new mandatory module for all students and graduate researchers, ‘Preventing Sexual Misconduct’.

“This was developed in consultation with our students and subject matter experts, ensuring alignment with current research and relevance to our university context.

“Delivery of the university’s Respect Education Program continues at pace, with more than 8100 staff participating in the last 12 months. This program equips people to take action to create safe and respectful working and learning environments.”

Like UNSW, Melbourne University also has a portal that allows any member of the university community to safely speak about, and seek support, for sexual assault, harassment or other forms of inappropriate behaviour, and a confidential reporting line for any inappropriate employee or workplace behaviour.

In Jiang’s experience, students will often disclose any issues to their peers first, so the continual promotion of official services as the next step is vital so that students can support friends through the process and educate one another more generally.

“It’s through education of these services that students will feel more confident,” she says, which is what universities are wanting – for students to be safe so that they can flourish academically and enjoy a positive student experience.