Sexual assault allegations raise safety concerns at popular student hang out

BY NATASHA SCHAPOVA

Witnesses have said they were horrified to watch a man grope female patrons on the dance floor of the Notting Hill Hotel.

The hotel, located near the Clayton campus and also referred to as "The Nott", is frequented by Monash University students.

Monash University student, Sophie, said a tall man, who looked to be in his late 20s, was being “very rowdy and pushing people around” on Thursday, March 25.

“My mate had a beer in his hand and when he went to sip, the man was grabbing his drink and forcing him to skull it down,” Sophie said.

“After a while it became apparent he was groping women in front of him and making everyone uncomfortable.”

Sophie said her male friends formed a protective circle around her and her female friends as one associate, Eddie, told the man to stop pushing them.

“This is when he began shoving and aggressively throwing his arms out and grabbing at Eddie, enough to have ripped his watch off,” she said.

Eddie alleges he was then removed from the bar by security, along with the assaulter.  

“The security was respectful to me and asked me what happened, but I think they should have been more aware of what was happening right in front of their faces,” Eddie said.

“It shouldn't take me, a patron, to have to do the confrontation for them.”

Notting Hill Hotel owner Kris Chapman said a sexual assault was not reported to them on March 25.

“The Notting Hill Hotel’s stance on any assaults reported to us, sexual or physical or any other nature, are treated really, really seriously,” Mr Chapman said.

“If anybody has a problem they need to come to management on the night and we will do everything in our power to protect them.”

Monash Students Association (MSA) representative Marni O’Connell said the MSA spoke to the Notting Hill Hotel’s management team regarding the incident.

“The Notting Hill Hotel have affirmed to us their zero tolerance of all forms of violence at their venue, and their concern for the safety of Monash students at their venue,” Ms O’Connell said.

“They have also committed to reviewing the processes engaged by their team to ensure all Monash students feel safe.

“This review will take into consideration that this matter is not a one off and that fighting violent, and harassing behaviour, is something that requires commitment.”

The incident was not an isolated occurrence. A former Monash University student said she was sexually assaulted by a friend at The Nott in 2018.

The student, who lived at a Monash University residential college and was in a relationship at the time, alleged she was kissed by a friend without her consent.

“The next day I found out that a lot of the guys in my hall had a group chat where they were talking about me, calling me a sl*t because I "hooked up" with him, and another guy was spreading rumours about me saying I had tried to hook up with him too,” she said.

The victim said she spoke to the Monash Safer Community Unit, which she claimed advised her they had no control over the situation as it occurred off-campus.

“They also said I could report it to police but it probably wouldn't get followed up anyway and the best thing for me to do would be to just keep my head down and avoid those guys around the hall,” she said.

“They did offer to book me an appointment with the Monash counsellors too, but I didn't feel like that was the kind of help I was after.”

The victim did not report the matter to The Notting Hill Hotel.

Executive Director of the Campus Community Division at Monash University, Vladimir Prprich said the university “takes any allegation of sexual assault very seriously,” including those occurring off-campus.

“Monash continuously supports the MRS Residential Support Teams in encouraging residents to report any allegations of sexual assault, or inappropriate behaviour, either at The Nott or any other location on or off campus,” Mr Prprich said

Mr Prprich said no formal or informal reports were received by the Safer Community Unit or Campus Security about the alleged incidents of sexual assault at The Nott.

“However, Campus Security has reported the allegations to Victoria Police and encourages all students to report incidents of alleged sexual assault to police, or the Safer Community Unit,” he said.

* Sophie's surname withheld