Alcohol mixed with the first days of university make the topic of consent an important thing to talk about.

“If heavy intoxication eliminates a person’s capacity to give consent, then what happens in a situation where both people are really drunk?”

“Is there any statute of limitations on how long a victim has to report an assault after it happens?”

“What do I say to my friend who was sexually assaulted?”

These are just some of the thought-provoking questions that were asked over the weekend by first year students at the University of Queensland during a series of events aimed at tackling campus sexual assault.

Titled “Re-Think”, the program was devised by St Leo’s Head of College Stephen Foley to address topics including consent, sexual assault, communication and respect.

While adults sometimes assume topics like consent and sexual assault are clear cut, young people themselves frequently indicate they want more information on the nuances of consent, especially where alcohol is concerned.

In one of the activities, students were asked to brainstorm all the signs that a person is consenting to a sexual encounter, as well as all the signs that a person is beginning to feel uncomfortable.

Interestingly, only a fraction of the students said that they would use the word “no” to turn down an unwanted experience, or indicate that they were uncomfortable.

Instead they offered several alternatives such as “I don’t know if this is a good idea”, “I’m not feeling well” or “could we just cuddle instead”.

Young men from the University of Queensland brainstorming questions around sexual consent on the weekend.Source:Supplied

When asked why they might not feel comfortable to use the word “no”, they gave several explanations including concern that some people might respond with frustration or escalated aggression if given a “hard no”.

Other students indicated that the word “no” is very final and may cause the initiator to feel rejected. They suggested there can be more sensitive, subtle or nuanced ways of communicating a rejection that don’t risk hurt feelings.

However, at high-school, many students are still only taught the socially blunt adage “no means no”. Many are not taught how to identify and correctly interpret other forms of refusal including silence, uneasiness or distraction.

In total 150 students from St Leo’s and Grace College attended the program and spoke honestly and openly about consent.

“There’ll always be one or two guys who enter college thinking that they already know it all, but the vast majority are eager to learn about these issues” said Stephen Foley.

“We had guys from the pilot group last year who are now senior students asking if they could come back and go through it again, they got that much out of it.”

Sharna Bremner from End Rape On Campus (EROC) says the program should be applauded.

“High school sex education is often less than adequate and, at best, students will enter university with varying degrees of understanding of the issue of consent. This sort of event can help to iron out some of those inconsistencies.”

“Some colleges such as St Leo’s are on the front foot, being highly proactive in confronting the issues and promoting respectful attitudes. But many others are still lagging behind.”

The event coincided with O-week and preceded the release of an EROC report today which details extensive cover-up of sexual assault at other universities.

The report shows that in the last five years there have been 575 formal reports of sexual harassment and assault made at Australian universities, resulting in just six expulsions across the country.

“Orientation week is a particularly crucial time to address these issues, as the first few weeks of first semester is the time when female students are most likely to experience sexual violence” said Bremner, “we call it the ‘red zone’”.

Karen Willis, the Executive Director of Rape and Domestic Violence Services Australia, said her organisation received an increase in the number of calls for rape crisis counselling from university women following O-week events across the country.

Chrystina Stanford, CEO of the Canberra Rape Crisis Centre, confirmed her service is busy at this time of year.

“There are always increased reports of sexual assault around O-week,” she said.

“Sometimes the increase comes just after O-week when things have settled down a bit.”

The EROC report recommends that all universities run sexual assault prevention training and consent education.

Nina Funnell is a freelance writer and author. Nina was a guest speaker and panellist at the Re-think event and a contributing author to the EROC report. Continue the conversation on Twitter @ninafunnell