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Safe and Respectful Communities (SARC)

eSafety

Online experiences and learning should be valuable and positive for everyone.

Cyber abuse or online harm is when someone sends harmful communications that are menacing, harassing or offensive. It can include posts, comments, emails, messages, memes, livestreams, images and videos.

Speak out

If you have experienced online harm, you are not alone and it is not your fault. The University encourages you to report and seek support.

Contact SARC

What we are doing to keep you safe?

eSafety has been identified as an emerging area of concern and will continue to be major focus for the SARC team in 2022.

The SARC team are establishing a working group that will help create awareness of online harm and help roll-out campaigns and initiatives aiming to prevent online harm in our community. Our relevant UOW Policies and Rules are also being reviewed to ensure everyone is aware of both their rights and responsibilities whilst online.

To find out more, or to get involved please reach out to us uow-sarc@uow.edu.au.

Resources and tools

The eSafety Commissioner website has resources and tools to support you to have safer and more positive experiences online.

The eSafety Commissioner has partnered with Universities Australia to develop the following Toolkits for the University community:

Resources in other languages

Sam's story

This video is a case study about what to do when intimate images have been shared online without your consent.

Alex and I, we went to school together. We were mates for many years. We hung out all the time, and we practically knew everything about each other.
 
One night, we kissed. I didn't think much of it. It was just a fun night out that went a bit too far, I guess. I mean, I liked Alex.
 
I just didn't want to ruin our friendship,
 
and I just thought we were both on the same page.
 
He called and text me a couple of times that week,
 
but that wasn't out of the norm.
 
However, the next week,
 
we met up again with all of our friends.
 
My friend noticed Alex was just staring at me,
 
but I laughed it off.
 
It was the night after our final exams,
 
so I did have a few drinks just to celebrate.
Alex and I stupidly kissed again.
 
Then we went back to his house, and well,
 
you know, one thing led to another.
 
I really regretted it.
 
I knew straight away that
 
I didn't want it to go any further.
 
I just didn't want to date him or anything.
 
I knew I didn't feel the same way about him.
 
He started calling and messaging me
 
an insane amount of times over the following weekend.
 
I ended up calling him,
 
because his messages were just getting too weird.
 
I told him that we needed to meet up.
 
I told him that he was just a good friend,
 
that we should just stay mates, you know?
 
He didn't try to argue with me.
 
He just looked confused and upset.
 
That night I went out with a few friends for girls night
 
and a couple of our male schoolmates were there too,
 
so, my friend Kate, she actually tagged us all
 
in a group photo to get Lara in.
 
Later that night, Alex actually sent me a text message calling me a slut.
 
He also posted photos of me from our night together.
 
I don't even remember them being taken.
 
I'm topless in one, and completely naked in others,
 
and there's just some other ones
 
that I don't even want to mention.
 
I couldn't believe what he had done.
 
All my friends and family, they saw the photos.
 
I was hysterical and I sent him messages
 
asking him to take everything down.
 
I begged, but he stopped answering my calls or my messages.
 
My friends helped me report all the images to the website,
 
and after a day or so, they did get removed,
 
but you know, by then, everyone had seen them,
 
even total strangers had commented on them
 
and shared them around.
 
We reported it to Google,
 
and they helped block the images in Search results.
 
It made me feel a little bit better,
 
but then, Alex posted my name and my mobile number,
 
and I started getting abusive and threatening messages
 
from all kinds of creeps.
 
I kept reporting them, but I also had to take screenshots,
 
and things like that, just in case,
 
I decided to go to the police.
 
I ended up blocking Alex from my mobile,
 
and every single stranger that tried
 
to message or call me,
 
I have to hide my caller ID.
 
I also totally blocked Alex online,
 
deleted him from any group,
 
and my friends made sure that everyone we knew
 
had blocked and deleted him as well.
 
It all stopped eventually,
 
but it took me a really long time
 
to stop blaming myself.
 
I've learned that there are things that you can do
 
to take the power away from the abuser,
 
and gain back control.
 
Find out more, at eSafety for women.

Min-jun's story

Min-jun recently moved to Australia as part of his university degree. He liked his studies, but it was definitely hard getting used to a new city, a new country and a language he was still learning. He met lots of people, but it was not always easy to make friends. He found dating even harder.

Read more
A student with a backpack

Contact the SARC team

The SARC team is responsible for leading the University’s work to prevent violence, abuse and harassment from occurring on our campuses. They are also responsible for providing a coordinated response and support if it does happen.

(02) 4221 3344 uow-sarc@uow.edu.au
Contact SARC