Conservative students in Australia were filmed ripping up a university report exposing a rape and sexual violence epidemic. During the University of Sydney (USYD) Students Representative Council’s Representatives-Elect meeting, two members of the campus’s conservative club tore up copies of the Red Zone Report—an investigation into sexual violence and hazing in Australian university residential colleges.
Highlights
- Conservatives at USYD rip Red Zone Report on sexual violence at colleges.
- USYD students laugh at and dismiss serious allegations of sexual violence.
- Staff and student reports of sexual misconduct increased at USYD in 2023.
Trigger warning: sexual violence – William Khoury and Noah Howlett, who are elected Liberal councilors for the University of Sydney’s Students Representatives Council (SRC) for 2025, were seen ripping up the Red Zone Report, USYD’s student newspaper, Honi Soit reported on Thursday (October 31).
Khoury and Howlett were subsequently filmed throwing pieces of the torn-up report on the floor during the speeches of incoming SRC Women’s Officers, and current sexual violence officers, Martha Barlow and Ellie Robertson.
As the Red Zone Report was being presented, one of the conservative students at USYD’s St John’s College was heard yelling: “How old is this?”
Conservative students in Australia were filmed ripping up a university report exposing a rape and sexual violence epidemic
Image credits: University of Sydney
Another conservative councilor, Connor O’Neill, went on to throw the torn-up report at other councilors, laughing at members of the faction, as per Honi Soit.
During Barlow and Robertson’s speech, a student from the same conservative group was also heard yelling: “No one cares.”
Om Karki, an additional conservative student, reportedly dismissed the report as being outdated, and claimed that “statistically women are less likely to be raped at a college campus than in the real world.”
Image credits: honi_soit
During the council meeting, which was recorded and live-streamed in its entirety by Honi Soit, incoming Women’s Officer, Robertson said: “It’s very clear now that after years and years of abhorrent and disgusting behavior, that the colleges are unreformable.
“Even after the Red Zone Report – which we are handing out to all you college apologists – and the Broderick Report, we have seen more instances of hazing, bullying, and sexual violence.”
Led by Elizabeth Broderick, the former Australian Sex Discrimination Commissioner, the 2011 Broderick report examined gender equality, sexual harassment, and discrimination within the Australian Defence Force.
Two members of the campus’ conservative club tore up copies of the Red Zone Report
Image credits: Honi Soit
Barlow, who passed out copies of the report, has since told News.com.au that it was “horrific, but perhaps not unsurprising” that the response from the Liberals and college representatives was to “laugh in my face, tear it up, and throw the pieces at us.”
She added: “It is a quite frankly reprehensible display of misogyny to so blatantly laugh...(at the) victim-survivors (in the report), and an incredibly telling one.
“Just like the colleges themselves, these student representatives would prefer to ignore the problem of sexual violence altogether and pretend it doesn’t exist.
“To this, we say that the time is long past to sweep this under the rug.”
Image credits: Honi Soit
Just three months ago, the USYD’s Annual Report on Sexual Misconduct revealed that staff and student reports of sexual assault or harassment had more than doubled since 2022, up from 121 to a total of 246 in 2023.
Robertson told News.com.au that to “laugh, undermine and ridicule” incidents of sexual violence at colleges, particularly when there were victim-survivors in the room, “is extremely vile and harmful.”
President of the USYD SRC for 2024, Harrison Brennan, said the actions of the conservative students “are nothing short of deplorable.”
The Red Zone Report is an investigation into sexual violence and hazing in Australian university residential colleges
Image credits: honi_soit
He added: “In a week already marred by reports of degrading hazing and assault at St Paul’s College, these individuals, aligned with the conservative campus club, tore up a report on sexual violence, harassment, and hazing within the colleges.
“Their behavior shows nothing has changed.”
Commissioned and published by End Rape on Campus (EROC) in February 2018, The Red Zone Report is an investigation into sexual violence and hazing in Australian university colleges containing 200 pages of graphic photos, screenshots, and police reports—as well as the stories of dozens of rape and hazing survivors—documenting the culture of sexual violence within Australian universities’ residential colleges, including those at USYD.
Image credits: EROC Australia
Its lead author, Nina Funnell, and EROC founder, Sharna Bremner, said in a joint statement that they were “disgusted by the behavior” at the SRC meeting.
They continued: “To hear current students remark ‘no one cares’ as they laughed about rape and hazing is not a slap in the face to us as The Red Zone authors.
“It is a slap in the face to those who were harmed in the colleges and survived, and to the loved ones of those who didn’t.”
William Khoury and Noah Howlett were seen ripping up the Red Zone Report
USYD Deputy Vice-Chancellor (Education), Professor Joanne Wright, said the university has initiated an “immediate inquiry” into the incident.
She told News.com.au: “Any behavior that mocks victim-survivors or ignores the impact of trauma resulting from sexual misconduct is absolutely unacceptable.
“We’re dedicated to creating a safe environment for our students and staff and we are formally reminding the SRC of their obligation to manage their meetings with sensitivity and respect.”
Image credits: honi_soit
Professor Wright further emphasized that all SRC members are “required to abide by our policies and codes of conduct, and we don’t hesitate to take action if we determine there has been a breach.”
She added: “We are deeply disappointed by what has reportedly occurred and expect higher standards from our students.
“Everyone in our community has a responsibility to foster a respectful and inclusive culture.”
Khoury and Howlett were subsequently filmed throwing pieces of the torn-up report on the floor
In a group statement, members of USYD’s Women’s Collective said it was “beyond evident” that “nothing has changed” regarding the residential colleges, which “remain unsafe.”
The Women’s Collective is set to bring a petition to the New South Wales, Australia, government “to force politicians to debate amendments to the college legislation and confront this disgusting culture.”
Barlow revealed: “The time is long past to keep listening to (the colleges’) platitudes about consent training and reforming senior leadership – especially when it is all too frequently college leaders using their leadership positions to perpetrate violence and bullying.
“Students deserve to live in dignity and feel safe at their own university, and this will never happen while the colleges still stand.”
According to the Red Zone Report, there is an annual event at St John’s College called “the purge,” where students are encouraged to post embarrassing and graphic details online about other students’ sexual activity.
Moreover, the report unveiled a slew of questionable practices among students, such as the “fresher grooming,” where predatory senior male students solicit and sexually rank junior female students, as demonstrated in organized events such as the “bait cruise,” “fresher five,” and “the bone room.”
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