Peer-on-peer violence is on the rise. But when schools must balance a duty of care to both victims and perpetrators, where does this leave girls who have to pursue their education in the shadow of sexual assault?
In the wake of the latest headlines about alleged sexual assaults involving schoolboys and the death of a 16-year-old girl from suspected sexual choking, the national cabinet has agreed to prioritise its plan to end sexual violence against women, the New South Wales government has flagged a new set of priorities with education ministers and the federal government has announced draft legislation for a digital duty of care. Meanwhile, the victim at the centre of an alleged gang-rape involving two students from a Sydney private school and another boy has prepared to sit her HSC exams.
“I can’t imagine what she is going through,” a police prosecutor, Sgt Rhonda Riley, told the court last month. “But she will need to complete her HSC going through pain and fear – not only mentally – for some time going forward.”