ANNIE Dawson was raped in her second year at a prestigious Australian university.

“In the privacy of my tiny cupboard-sized college room, he changed from the cute guy I thought I knew, into an aggressive man who pretended not to hear me when I told him to stop,” she wrote, in a widely shared Mamamia article last year.

“He pushed me to the ground and had such violent sex with me, I walked around with carpet burn on my feet, shins, knees and hands for weeks. He dragged me to the communal bathroom, pushed me into a shower cubicle, bent me over and continued to have sex with me despite the fact that I was barely sober enough to stand, and too shocked to object. He overpowered me physically, intimidated me verbally, and left once I was passed out naked on my bed.”

Months later, the same man did something similar to her friend. But Annie said no one was interested in her story, because she was drunk and invited her rapist back to her room.

What’s more, she claimed that virtually every single one of her friends had had “something awful” happen to them on campus.

One was gang-raped by male “friends” in an alley between two colleges. Another went back to a man’s room, where he and his friends took turns raping her in the dark. She only realised more than one man was there when they started bragging about what they’d done. They called it “tag-teaming”.

Others invited fellow students back to their rooms and were raped in their beds and told to keep it a secret or they’d be called “sluts”.

Evidence suggests this isn’t uncommon, but a lack of reporting and a culture of victim blaming means Australia is only now collectively confronting the risks for young people in colleges across the country.

MAJORITY OF INCIDENTS NOT REPORTED

A new National Union of Students survey shows that a quarter of students reported unwanted sexual experiences last year. One in five occurred in a public space such as the library, or class.

The survey claimed that 94 per cent did not report what had happened to the university, and 95 per cent did not report it to the police.

Many young people are confused about what sexual harassment and assault mean. Research by anti-violence group The Line late last year revealed that one in three 12- to 24-year-olds thought “exerting control over someone is not a form of violence”, and one in four young people did not think it was serious if a man who is normally gentle slaps his girlfriend while he is drunk.

One in six of the 3000 young respondents thought women should “know their place” and one in four thought it was normal for men to pressure women into sex.

A 2006 Australian Bureau of Statistics Personal Safety Survey found that 12 per cent of women aged 18-24 said they had experienced at least one incident of violence, while just 6.5 per cent of women aged 35-44 said the same.

In a groundbreaking move, universities have come together to launch a campaign against sexual violence, harassment and sexism in Australia’s tertiary education system. It comes ahead of the release of a hard-hitting US documentary exposing sexual assault on American campuses, institutional cover-ups and the toll on victims and their families.

The Hunting Ground made waves in the US after it revealed a culture of violence, misogyny and hush-ups on campuses around America, particularly among fraternities and elite college sports players.

While Australian universities appear to be partially protected by an absence of fraternities, high-profile sports teams and campus accommodation, vice-chancellors and sex discrimination leaders say the campaign is vital.

“This is an issue that needs focus and attention,” former sex discrimination commissioner Elizabeth Broderick told news.com.au. “Thirty-nine universities have decided to come together and collect data. In other nations, especially the US, there’s been a fragmented approach, with each university working alone. Hopefully there can be a collective solution.”

Ms Broderick said university acts as a “microcosm of social norms”. She said 18- to 24-year-olds were at a higher risk when it came to personal safety and faced higher levels of sexual harassment than other women. “Almost half experienced sex harassment, and 90 per cent was by male perpetrators.”

The campaign, ‘Respect. Now. Always.’ is being run by Universities Australia, in conjunction with The Hunting Ground Australia Project, the Australian Human Rights Commission, the UNSW Australian Human Rights Centre.

The Hunting Ground - International Trailer Watch the trailer for The Hunting Ground, a feature documentary chronicling the personal stories of students who have been sexually assaulted on American university campuses. Courtesy: Madman Films

It’s hoped it will make support services more visible and “raise awareness among the 1.3 million students in Australian universities that sexual assault and sexual harassment are unacceptable”.

Ms Broderick said it would also improve our understanding of what sexual harassment and assault are, speaking to specific moments in time: “If you're in the library, what do you do?”

The Hunting Ground Australia Project is holding screenings of the documentary around the country and encouraging conversations about the experiences portrayed in the film and how they relate to Australian students.

“The first few weeks, I made some of my best friends,” says one young woman in the eye-opening film. “But two of us were sexually assaulted before classes had even started.”

Another said she visited the dean of students and was told not to talk to anyone about what had happened.

A third told filmmakers that students were “lectured about how we shouldn’t go out in short skirts”.

It’s a familiar story. When a 21-year-old woman was sexually assaulted in 2012 on a street next to the University of Melbourne, a female Senior Constable told the media: “It’s just a matter of being aware of your environment and not leaving yourself in a vulnerable position.”

After the murder of schoolgirl Masa Vukotic, Victoria Police updated its safety advice with suggestions including, “create an invisible housemate”, “walk with purpose” and “park as close as possible to your train station”.

Helen Bolton, from the Centre Against Sexual Assault, told Fairfax that despite universities’ efforts to encourage reporting, disclosures were low, especially by international students.

She said most attacks occurred off-campus, and some female students had undergone abortions after being raped.

Ms Broderick said 2016 could be a big year or uncovering sex discrimination and violence, and really starting to do something about it.

“This won’t be the first time they’ve looked at it,” she said. “What’s changed is that they’re ready to step up and collect hard data.”

Call 1800 RESPECT (1800 737 732) if you have experienced, or are at risk of, family and domestic violence and/or sexual assault.

Contact Lifeline to connect with a crisis service in your state on 13 11 14.