Two Wellington students who launched a survey about sexual assault in the city are saddened but unsurprised at the inundation of responses.
Ella Lamont and her friend Sophie Harrison got tired of the "massive long discussions" they would have with friends about their experiences of sexual harassment and decided it was time to act.
The pair posted a questionnaire online on Friday and have since received more than 2700 responses - 86 percent of which say they have experienced harassment on the streets of Wellington.
A jaw dropping 481 respondents said their drinks had been spiked, and nearly 600 said they had been raped.
"Only 12 people so far have said they haven't experienced any type of assault or abuse," Lamont told Newshub.
"Given our lived experience it's not surprising."
The girls hope to present a summary of their findings to Wellington City Council in the hopes a possible solution will be found.
"Ultimately we want to see a change in behaviour because we've been taught since we were young how to protect ourselves - cover your drink, cover yourself, don't do this, don't do that," Lamont says.
"[It's] completely accommodating to men's behaviour to try and prevent our own assaults when it should be men's behaviour changing in the first place."
Lamont says rape culture starts small with things like a man laughing along with a friend's rape joke, or not stepping in when a mate tries to hook up with an intoxicated woman - but all these things build into a much larger issue
"These microaggressions when you let them slide they build on each other and then suddenly someone's daughter isn't making it home."
