Support UPNG’s female students

Letters

THE protest by the University of PNG (UPNG) female students on Tuesday should be supported.The UPNG administration should wake up and address cases of sexual harassment and sexual abuse on campus. It is highly likely that complaints of similar incidents have been laid with student wardens, counsellors and the university security.Locate these registered complaints and start dealing with the perpetrators. The UPNG administration should take this matter seriously and address it immediately.Look at other institutions in the region, they have strict policies against sexual harassment and other unaccepted behaviour.Identify the culprits and terminate them. Set their termination as a precedence and start revisiting your policies and updating them as soon as you can. Parents and guardians of female students at the UPNG Waigani campus should continue to support their children.Keep in touch with them and give them the support to win this fight against hooligans and primitives who should not have been at UPNG in the first place.The question remains: Are those violent people students or people who are just living on campus?It is time for Police Commissioner David Manning, his senior officers and the sexual violence unit to work closely with the university’s management and educate students about sexual harassment, sexual abuse and the laws against them.It seems some university students do not understand that to touch another person’s body without their consent is wrong and people can be charged and prosecuted for doing so. All other male students should stand up for what is right.They should have joined the female students during the protest on Tuesday. If you did not, it is time you wake up from your slumber and help eradicate sexual harassment and sexual abuse on campus.This may mean you telling the hooligans to own up and save the rest of the male students from being labelled as thugs or animals.This may be the most important action that you take.So, as intellectuals, you should consider doing this right now.You cannot allow people who you know that are doing bad things to continue ruining your future.Remember, your future employers are closely watching how this matter is unravelling.Scholarship agencies from other countries are watching how you are handling this.As it is, the chances of you being offered scholarships to study in overseas universities where sexual harassment and sexual abuse are not tolerated are very slim. So, you must do the right thing now. It’s time to stand up and speak up for what is right.Support the cause to stop sexual harassment and sexual abuse on campus.

Say No To Violence