Address by Minister Harris to the National Advisory Committee (NAC)

Address to the National Advisory Committee (NAC) to discuss tackling sexual harassment and violence in third level education

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Minister Harris:

I want to thank Orla for her introduction and for helping us pull this all together. Orla and I have worked together on many issues. She is a leader amongst her peers.

She rarely seeks credit for her work but I know from standing alongside her during many battles, she is a fearless campaigner. It is why I sought a meeting with her within days of being appointed as Minister for Further and Higher Education, Research, Innovation and Science.

The title is a bit of a mouthful but I see my role as very simple one. I strongly believe this Department has the chance to be an economic driver, to future proof our economy but just as importantly, I see it as being a vehicle of social inclusion and driving the equality agenda. I strongly believe this Department has a real chance to ensure everybody – regardless of origin or gender - should have an equal opportunity to access education and to gain employment.

But it is becoming increasingly clear to me that such opportunities are not available to all. In fact, your origin, gender, socioeconomic status, your parents’ income, your address can determine your access to third level education and to your ability to complete it.

I want to be the Minister to right those wrongs. One of my first meetings as Minister was to meet the Union of Students in Ireland and they presented their survey of sexual harassment in our institutions.

A third of female students reported having been raped. Let that sink in. Two thirds had been sexually harrassed. I didn’t think I lived under a rock but I was stunned by its findings. It is the same shock I experienced when I launched the Dublin Rape Crisis Centre’s annual report last year.

Sexual harassment, sexual intimidation, rape, gender-based violence are becoming increasingly common crimes. Thankfully, many victims are more willing to come forward now but the warning signs in the USI survey should be a cause to action.

We shouldn't presume that the problem begins or ends in our third level institutions. When I was Minister for Health, I had the opportunity to visit all our maternity hospitals. It always struck me when I saw the cots lined up alongside each other... nobody is born into hatred. Nobody is born angry. Nobody is born intolerant. Nobody is born racist. Nobody is born to rape or sexual assault.

So how do rape and sexual assault become part of the culture?

That is the difficult question we have to answer. It can start in our homes and in our schools. It can begin when we teach our children about sex through a prism of judgement or shame. Or when our children access violent, subversive porn through the phones. Or when our teenagers begin to use dismissive, dehumanising language towards each other.

It can happen through toxic cultures in our sports clubs or through judgement and jealousy amplified by social media. It continues in work places. In homes. In pubs. In nightclubs across this country. And unless we accept all of that, we won’t change it.

While today is a listening exercise for me, I want you to be under no illusion about my determination to deal with this epidemic. And I want the third level sector not to be a problem area but a leader.

A leader in diversity. In respect. In inclusion. In zero tolerance. Consent is not an option. It is a requirement.

I don’t care what a victim was wearing. I don’t care how many drinks the perpetrator or the victim had.

I don’t care if you believed he or she was “up for it” or not. I don't care if they came home with you. Sex without consent is assault and it is a crime. We cannot address these issues unless we confront the uncomfortable reality that this is happening.

And we cannot address these issues unless we also confront the reality that this is not solely a problem among the student population but a reality for staff too. The question we must answer is how we address it. I have no interest in frameworks or guidelines that do not have deliverables.

This is not a box-ticking exercise for me. You have done so much work together. You have shone a light on something ignored by many. We have the framework. We have the goals. But it is about implementation and about holding each other to account.

Nobody is autonomous when it comes to this epidemic. People shouldn't be afraid. This is an opportunity to tackle an issue once and for all. I challenge us here to come up with three concrete proposals to implement within 12 months. I challenge us to have a conversation with each other about how we reach those we need to.

We know that for many of our children, third level education is an opportunity to define yourself. An opportunity for independence. An opportunity to rebel. An opportunity to experiment. But we also know that reports of sexual assaults and rape peak during freshers and rag weeks.

We also need to challenge the perception of what sexual assault and harassment is. Not all cases involve violence. Not all leave visible marks.

And we must challenge the misconception that this is a woman's issue. The more we see it through a gender specific lens, the more likely we are to fail. So, it is time to cop on. It is time for us to confront this and it is time for us to do something about it. It is a conversation we must have in every household. On every campus.

I promise you here today that I, alongside my colleague Minister for Justice Helen McEntee, are committed to being the voice for change in this area. To change the laws that must be changed. To advocate and educate. But we cannot do it without all of you in this room.

We need to have the conversation with each other and not at each other. We need to educate each other, rather than divide.

We must work together to drive forward real change.

It can be done but we need powerful voices for change. I will be one of those and I hope you will join me. I want my daughter to grow up in a world she is respected. Where she is safe. I want her and her children and their children to reap the benefits of the conversation we are beginning today.