Female student who was raped at a top Australian university writes open letter: ‘You failed me’

A number of top universities in Australia have come under fire this week after being linked with sexual assaults and harrassment.

On Thursday, an open letter surfaced, written by an anonymous student who was allegedly raped at a “prestigious” Australian university. Hiding under the name Annie Dawson, the student blasted the unidentified school for failing her after the incident. She claimed she was raped in the campus by a young man “who got away with it because he knew he could.”

The letter, which was originally published in 2014 but was rerun on Thursday by Mamamia, was intended to let the university know about the number of women it failed. “ Women who expected to attend university, go to classes and live at residential colleges on your campus without being raped ,” Dawson wrote. She said there were those who tried to report they were raped but nobody listened, so instead they were forced to see their attackers on a daily basis. “[O]n your campus, there are no consequences for raping a woman,” she revealed.

Dawson recounted the horrible night when the rape allegedly happened. It was during her second year in college, by a guy that she liked. After a night of drinking, the two ended up in her bedroom. “A nd there, in the privacy of my tiny cupboard-sized college room, he changed from the cute guy I thought I knew, into an aggressive man who pretended not to hear me when I told him to stop,” she wrote.

Describing it as a “violent” act, she said that the guy overpowered her physically and verbally intimidated her. Dawson also said she was not the only victim, as her friends were also raped by the same guy. Blasting the university for being “not safe for women,” she criticised that the lack of legal recourse and support system for rape victims “created an environment where rapists feel as though they can rape without consequence.”

Dawson also wrote that the university is neglecting its responsibility for its students, which results to the continuing spate of rape incidents in the campuses. “Until you learn to value the trauma of a victim over the reputation of the attacker, that will not change,” she concludes.

The rerun of Dawson’s letter comes on the heels of young woman’s petition to remove a Facebook page that rates female university students based on their attractiveness. Melbourne University law student Laura Blandthorn started an online petition to take down the page called Hotties of Melbourne University, which posts photos of female students so users can evaluate their desirability without the women’s permission.

The petition states that the Facebook page perpetuates rape culture by “normalising predatory behaviour towards women.” It said that the site contains derogatory comments, as well as statements that that treat women as property, “a commodity to be bought and sold.” To date, Blandthorn’s petition has reached more than 22,000 supporters.

For its part, the University of Melbourne has also asked Facebook to remove the page, according to a report by The Age. “The University of Melbourne is strongly committed to ensuring a safe, inclusive, connected and respectful University community,” a university spokesman told The Age.

Colleges and universities across Australia are currently screening an American film titled "The Hunting Ground," to raise awareness on sexual assaults at campuses. In a survey conducted by the National Union of Students, or NUS, 70 per cent of the respondents claim that they had experienced some from of harassment during their time at university. "While some respondents said that universities and external services had helped to address their experiences; the overwhelming view was that they needed improving," the NUS said in its web site.