University of Melbourne students who made sexual harassment complaints against a student were allegedly told they should have regarded it as a compliment.
Three former female students of the Victorian College of the Arts have accused the university of ignoring multiple reports alleging sexually inappropriate and racist behaviour of a male student dating back to 2019.
Student Mia Boonen, 21, alleged she was groped several times during a class.
Ms Boonen said she did not make a formal complaint after a teacher allegedly said it would be too stressful for her and would ruin the male student's life.
"And I really regret that because then the next two years happened," she said.
Ms Boonen alleges the man continued to sexually harass her and a number of other students until 2021, including inappropriate touching, making sexual and racist comments, and ignoring direct requests to change his behaviour.
She said she acted as a student advocate in five other formal complaints against the same student.
The student was removed from campus for six months, but he was allowed to return to class this year after he wrote a single letter of apology addressed to all of his alleged victims.
Ms Boonen has now withdrawn from campus and will instead do her classes online.
"I'm not going anywhere near Southbank until I can guarantee I'll be safe," she said.
Teacher allegedly accused complainants of ostracising male student
Fellow students Antoinette Tracey and Sinead Fernandes have joined Ms Boonen in speaking about their experiences with the student and reporting his behaviour to the university.
"Every woman knew not to be close to him," Ms Fernandes said. "There was this real understanding that he was scary to be around."
Ms Fernandes and Ms Tracey approached a teacher to complain but instead were allegedly accused of ostracising the male student.
Ms Tracey alleged they were told they would never make it in the industry if they complained about sexual harassment.
"[The teacher] told me that acts of sexual harassment and racial harassment are forms of compliments because it says that I’m pretty," she said.
Ms Fernandes and Ms Tracey claimed that when they became distressed and were crying about what the teacher was saying to them, the teacher asked them if they were on their period.
Ms Tracey claimed the teacher deleted an audio recording of the meeting after she had asked for a copy.
The women are calling on the University of Melbourne to retrain its staff on how it responds to complaints about sexual and racial harassment.
The university said it took student misconduct seriously and had zero tolerance for sexual misconduct.
It said it took action under the Student Conduct Policy to address and respond to the concerns that were raised and that it was committed to listening to its students and improving how it addresses such matters.
A spokesperson said the university had strict policies to ensure campuses and workplaces were safe areas for staff, students and visitors, which had been strengthened by a new, standalone Sexual Misconduct Prevention and Response Policy which was issued in October 2021.
The ABC has contacted the teacher who met with Ms Fernandes and Ms Tracey but has not received a response.
