When 18-year-old Genevieve Dunstan heard about a list by male classmates ranking her female peers as "unrapeable", she wanted to speak up for what was right.
What she didn't expect, was to be treated the same as one of the perpetrators for doing so.
Exposed by the Courier Mail, the list cruelly mocks six senior students at Mueller College, including some with disabilities, and labels them as "unrapeable".
It was compiled by six boys and posted by one to social media. However, only the boy who posted the list was externally suspended, per the Mail.
Genevieve says her boyfriend Finn Glover, 17, was a whistleblower who made the school aware of the list.
Finn was reportedly sent a copy of the list and shared a screenshot in a group chat slamming it as "absolutely disgusting".
The following day, October 9, he alerted the school of the list and its creators, thinking he would be thanked.
Instead, he was externally suspended, which Genevieve says is the same as being expelled as students could not graduate or return to campus other than to sit their final exams.
Genevieve criticised the school's handling of the situation on her personal Instagram page and reportedly called out college head Paul Valese personally as "absolutely pathetic" for refusing to bring Finn back.
The Year 12 student says she was asked to meet with Valese to apologise for the comments online.
However, she refused and stood by her words leading to her also being externally suspended.
"The school has provided me the exact same punishment as the boy who wrote the list, which I think is totally unfair… I do not regret speaking up for what is right," she says in a viral TikTok.
Listen to the chilling phrase boys are chanting on The Quicky. Post continues below.
The Mail reports five of the boys who made the list are understood to remain at the school.
Meanwhile, Finn, Genevieve and the sixth boy received the same punishment and were banned from the school formal, farewell breakfast and final chapel — something Finn and Genevieve believe was "unfair".
And they're not alone. A petition calling to reverse their expulsion has gained more than 800 signatures over a few days.
"Genevieve and Finn's only crime was bringing a glaring injustice to light: schools often unjustly punish victims and whistleblowers, while the perpetrators go scot-free," it states.
"It's time our institutions revisited their punitive measures and started treating whistleblowers and victims with the respect and sensitivity they deserve… Schools should be a safe haven for all scholars, not a battlefield where victims are penalised for speaking up."
The college defended its response and said it acted "immediately and appropriately" to discipline the students involved.
"As soon as it was brought to the attention of the college it was immediately reported to police as the college considered the content to be vile and offensive," Valese said in a statement, per 9NEWS.
"The incident occurred outside of the school context and any allegations are not against the school."
The school said students who were aware of the incident were asked to keep details confidential pending the official investigation.
Mamamia has contacted Genevieve and Mueller College for further comment.
A "vile" trend
It's not the first time offensive rankings have done the rounds in schools this year.
Just two weeks ago, three boys were expelled from Gold Coast private school Emmanuel College over a vulgar ranking list.
The Carrara institution promises "Christian education of the highest quality" focused on "shaping people of character", according to its website.
In a statement, Emmanual College said the students were involved "in online behaviour involving offensive and inappropriate comments about female students".
"The investigation found some students from the College and at least two other local schools had engaged in online behaviour involving offensive and inappropriate comments about female students," it said, per the Gold Coast Bulletin.
"As soon as the information came to light, we took immediate action to investigate and address the situation thoroughly.
"We are appalled that a small minority of boys consider it acceptable to view girls in this way."
No charges were laid. However, the Gold Coast Child Protection and Investigation Unit was made aware of the incident and engaged with the school.
Watch: Melbourne school boys caught ranking women. Post continues below.
In June, a teenage boy was charged over a "vile" social media post that allegedly ranked female students at another Gold Coast school.
The 17-year-old was accused of reportedly ranking students at Foxwell State Secondary College into offensive categories such as "abduction material", "one night stand", "average", "preorder" and "unrapeable".
The boy was not a student at the school. He was charged with three counts of using a carriage service to menace, harass, or cause offence.
Queensland Premier Steven Miles slammed the comments as "disgusting".
"Girls should not experience being spoken about in that way," he said.
"It goes again to the scourge of social media and the impact it is having on young people… It is something I am very concerned about."
Victoria's premier also lashed out against "disgraceful" behaviour towards girls and women over a similar incident at a Melbourne private school in May.
Students at Yarra Valley Grammar in Ringwood shared a spreadsheet of photographs of female students on the messaging app Discord and ranked them in categories.
Their faces were put in order from "wifeys", "cuties", "mid", "object", "get out" and "unrapable".
Two students involved were expelled over what premier Jacinta Allen labelled a "disgusting" act.
"The behaviour that's been reported… at the school in Ringwood is misogynist, it's disgraceful, it's disgusting and it's utterly unacceptable," she told reporters at the time.
"To think that you're sitting in a classroom with classmates who not just hold these views, but write them down and share them.
"This is no joke. Respect for women has to be at the forefront of every classroom, of every household, of every part of our community, because… too many women [are] subjected to violence, too many women [are] losing their lives."
Feature image: Tiktok/@couriermail/Mueller College
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