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“Awful Awful Behavior”: Public Outrage Erupts Over Students Destroying Assault Report
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“Awful Awful Behavior”: Public Outrage Erupts Over Students Destroying Assault Report

“Awful Awful Behavior”: Public Outrage Erupts Over Students Destroying Assault Report“Revolting”: Outrage Erupts As Students Destroy College Assault Report“Try Getting A Job Now”: People Lash Out At Students Who Ripped Up College Assault ReportConservative Students Tear Up College Assault Report: “Reprehensible Display Of Misogyny”“Reprehensible Display Of Misogyny”: Uni Students Tear Up Assault Report, Claim “No One Cares”“The Purge”: “Liberal” Students Face Outcry For Destroying College Assault ReportAussie Students Accused Of A “Reprehensible Display Of Misogyny” After Tearing Up Assault ReportStudents In Australia Filmed Tearing Up College Assault Report: “Nothing Short Of Deplorable”“On-Brand”: Backlash For Conservative Students Who Trashed College Assault Records“Ignoring The Problem”: Fury Mounts As Australian Students Rip Up College Assault Report
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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.”

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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 

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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.”

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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.

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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.”

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Image credits: honi_soit

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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.”

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A post shared by Honi Soit (@honi_soit)

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.”

“Try getting a job now,” a reader commented

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Andréa Oldereide

Andréa Oldereide

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I’m a journalist who works as Bored Panda’s News Team's Senior Writer. The news team produces stories focused on pop culture. Whenever I get the opportunity and the time, I investigate and produce my own exclusive stories, where I get to explore a wider range of topics. Some examples include: “Doberman Tobias the viral medical service dog” and “The lawyer who brought rare uterine cancer that affects 9/11 victims to light”. You've got a tip? email me: andrea.o@boredpanda.com

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Andréa Oldereide

Andréa Oldereide

Writer, BoredPanda staff

I’m a journalist who works as Bored Panda’s News Team's Senior Writer. The news team produces stories focused on pop culture. Whenever I get the opportunity and the time, I investigate and produce my own exclusive stories, where I get to explore a wider range of topics. Some examples include: “Doberman Tobias the viral medical service dog” and “The lawyer who brought rare uterine cancer that affects 9/11 victims to light”. You've got a tip? email me: andrea.o@boredpanda.com

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Karina Babenok

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As a visual editor in the News team, I look for the most interesting pictures and comments to make each post interesting and informative through images, so that you aren't reading only blocks of text. I joined Bored Panda not that long ago, but in this short amount of time I have covered a wide range of topics: from true crime to Taylor Swift memes (my search history is very questionable because of that).In my freetime, I enjoy spending time at the gym, gaming, binging Great British Bake Off and adding yet another tattoo artist that I would love to get a tattoo from to my pinterest board.

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Karina Babenok

Karina Babenok

Author, BoredPanda staff

As a visual editor in the News team, I look for the most interesting pictures and comments to make each post interesting and informative through images, so that you aren't reading only blocks of text. I joined Bored Panda not that long ago, but in this short amount of time I have covered a wide range of topics: from true crime to Taylor Swift memes (my search history is very questionable because of that).In my freetime, I enjoy spending time at the gym, gaming, binging Great British Bake Off and adding yet another tattoo artist that I would love to get a tattoo from to my pinterest board.

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Paulina
Community Member
1 day ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

This is so disgusting! Everyone that yelled those atrocities and ripped the report should be expelled from the school. And those laughing along should be punished. There's no other way to go forward from this.

Ms.GB
Community Member
1 day ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

Absolutely deplorable behavior, how are they not ashamed of themselves.

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Paulina
Community Member
1 day ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

This is so disgusting! Everyone that yelled those atrocities and ripped the report should be expelled from the school. And those laughing along should be punished. There's no other way to go forward from this.

Ms.GB
Community Member
1 day ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

Absolutely deplorable behavior, how are they not ashamed of themselves.

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