International students who have been subjected to sexual harm can often be fearful of what this can mean for them in terms of costs to access services, privacy in accessing services and if it will have any effect on their student visa.
We have developed fact sheets about sexual assault in English, Simplified Chinese, Vietnamese and Malay. You can access them via our website.
The following questions are common concerns raised by international students:
No. If you are reporting a sexual harm you do not need to tell the Department of Home Affairs as it does not have any affect upon your visa as an international student.
This applies to reports of sexual assault to the police, reports of sexual harassment to the Equal Opportunity Commission as well as reports of sexual harm to UniSA. UniSA will not inform the Department of Home Affairs if you have made a report of sexual harm to the university.
It is your decision who you tell if you have experienced sexual harm, even if you are aged under 18 years. It is important to talk with people you trust, feel safe with and who will support you.
Sometimes people who have experienced sexual harm may fear that others will not believe them if they tell them, or fear that others will blame them for the sexual harm. It is helpful to talk things through with someone who will listen in a non-judgemental way and who understands the effects of sexual harm.
There is a range of free and confidential support options available through UniSA or externally and we encourage all students to make use of these services.
There is some helpful information about making the decision about who to talk to following a sexual harm in the booklet called “What Choices do I Have?”
There are services available free of charge to anyone in South Australia who has been subjected to sexual harm.
Yarrow Place Rape and Sexual Assault Service will provide free medical and counselling services to people aged 16 years and over who have been raped or sexually assaulted.
You do not need to use your health insurance to access this service. You may be asked for a Medicare number when requesting certain medical services but if you do not have a Medicare card Yarrow Place will not ask you to claim anything on your private health insurance and you are still eligible to access services.
You do not need to have reported the sexual assault to police to be eligible for services at Yarrow Place. Information about services you access at Yarrow Place is confidential and subject to legal constraints. The situations when Yarrow Place cannot guarantee confidentiality are:
There is also a range of support options available through UniSA and externally and we encourage all students to make use of these services.