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Slowly (too slowly) but surely, Australia is beginning to grapple with the prevalence of sexual assault and harassment on university campuses.

As each report emerges, the nature of the crimes -- from physical violence to a "pro rape" Facebook page -- are increasingly familiar, but it's also distressingly clear those affected feel unable or afraid to report the crime.

A recent report on Channel 7's Sunday Night shared the results of an extensive freedom of information (FOI) investigation. In the past five years, it found that of 575 formally reported sexual misconduct cases across universities nation-wide, only six ended in the expulsion of the alleged culprit. Not all schools responded to the FOI request.

At the University of New South Wales (UNSW), Channel 7reported there were 52 reported cases, but zero expulsions, two suspensions and five formal reprimands.

When approached by Mashable, UNSW disputed Channel 7's numbers and said the link between incidents reported and penalties was misleading. "Over the 5 year period (2011-16) there were 40 reports of alleged sexual misconduct at UNSW of which 7 were alleged sexual assault," a spokesperson said.

"The incidents from UNSW include all matters of sexual misconduct and sexual assault reported by our students and staff, but many of the alleged perpetrators are never identified or they are not students or staff of the University. UNSW is only able to investigate those matters where the alleged perpetrator is a student or staff member."

Channel 7 has been approached for comment.

The numbers are also not definitive given the likelihood of under-reporting. Indeed, the universities's formal records form only part of the picture.

A sexual harassment and assault survey carried out by the National Union of Students (NUS) in 2015 indicated 27 percent of respondents had experienced sexual assault in some form while enrolled. That's in excess of the Australian Bureau of Statistics's (ABS) numbers, which found in 2012 that 19 percent of Australian women "had experienced sexual violence" since the age of 15.

That could partially be thanks to NUS's survey being opt-in, which means people who responded wanted to share their story. But it's also clear that among all women, university-aged women between 18 to 24 are one of the groups most likely to experience violence.

The issue of under-reporting

The Channel 7 story and NUS's report make it clear that survivors of sexual assault are often unaware of their options. According to the NUS survey, of those who had experienced "harassment, mistreatment or assault," around 95 percent had neither reported it to the university nor to the police.

In some cases, the consequences for making the incident known to authorities can seem too great.

A 23-year-old University of Tasmania student said in the NUS survey she failed to report unwanted sexual advances from an academic supervisor because of the potential consequences.

"Even though I knew it wasn't my fault and I know that I was within my rights to report it I didn't feel I could," the person wrote. "I was so concerned about the consequences for me (academically; like not having a supervisor, having a sexual harassment claims against my name), that I did not report it."

Sharna Bremner, who runs the Australian chapter of End Rape on Campus, told Mashable she was not surprised the reported instances of sexual assault were so low in the Channel 7 report. "The numbers are low, but we know that so few students do report," she said.

As she pointed out, it's typically difficult to even find a school's sexual assault policy and often the policy uses language that could actively discourage a victim from coming forward.

At Federation University in Victoria, for example, step one of its sexual harassment complaint procedure brings up the perpetual bug bear of so-called false reports.

"You should be careful to make sure your understanding of the situation is not based on hearsay, gossip or rumour. Complaints against a person can be damaging, so it is important that you are as sure of your facts as possible."

It's details like this that keep reporting numbers "artificially low," in Bremner's opinion.

"When universities say they've had zero reports, that doesn't mean what they think it means," she added. "It's always hard to encourage people to report with some of the responses I've seen on university campuses."

In a statement, Federation University told Mashableit is in the process of revising its procedures "to eradicate any ambiguity or confusion."

"It has never been the University’s intention to discourage the reporting of sexual assaults or harassment."

To hear from students themselves, the Australian Human Rights Commission (AHRC) and Universities Australia also announced the launch of a nation-wide survey examining the issue in August.

Sex Discrimination Commissioner Kate Jenkins, who runs the AHRC's survey, commended the women who came forward in the Channel 7 program.

"What we don't yet know is the scale of the problem, especially given that sexual assault in particular is often not reported," she told Mashablein an email. "The data we collect will give us an insight into why these cases are happening, how universities are responding when cases are reported to them and what needs to be done to prevent sexual assault and harassment in the future."

The results of the survey should be available in April 2017.

Federation University has been contacted by Mashablefor comment.

In Australia: If you have experienced sexual abuse or violence, you can talk to someone at 1800 RESPECT, a 24/7 national telephone hotline - 1800 737 732.

In the U.S.: If you have experienced sexual abuse, call the free, confidential National Sexual Assault hotline at 1-800-656-HOPE (4673), or access the 24-7 help online by visiting online.rainn.org.

UPDATE: Oct. 10, 2016, 6:02 p.m. AEDT Statement added from UNSW.

UPDATE: Oct. 10, 2016, 7:23 p.m. AEDT Number of UNSW reported cases amended to reflect original Channel 7 report.

UPDATE: Oct. 16, 2016, 11:30 a.m. AEDT Statement added from Federation University.

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