Privilege and power mask sexual harassment problem

A leading academic has warned that elite Australian universities are more concerned with protecting their reputation than dealing with sexual harassment and assault, write Henrietta Cook and Bridie Smith for The Sydney Morning Herald.

Professor of Media at Macquarie University, Catharine Lumby, said "a lockdown mentality" pervaded Australia's oldest universities and their residential colleges. "Wherever you find privilege and power you will find people very concerned about reputation," she said.

The often unspoken problem of harassment in universities was highlighted recently, after high-profile University of California, Berkeley physicist Geoff Marcy was found to have repeatedly sexually harassed women in his department. The internal investigation resulted in little more than a threat of suspension or dismissal if Professor Marcy's behaviour didn't change. He resigned following pressure from the research community.
Full report on The Sydney Morning Herald site