In short:
Substitute teacher Hannah Duffus says the misogyny she has experienced in classrooms is "pretty horrible".
Teaching remains a predominantly female profession with seven out of every 10 teachers identifying as female.
What's next?
Ms Duffus is determined to continue travelling and teaching around Australia.
Hannah Duffus is reminded of her gender every time she enters the classroom.
Despite writing her full name in block letters on the whiteboard before every class, she has never been referred to as anything but "Miss".
And, in truth, "Miss" is probably one of the nicest names she's been called while substitute teaching.
Ms Duffus has been working as a substitute teacher, travelling around Australia in a van with her boyfriend and working in all manner of classrooms to help subsidise the trip.
She said the misogyny she witnessed and experienced while teaching could hurt.
"In the moment it feels like an attack and your body goes into fight or flight mode," Ms Duffus said.
"Young female teachers are often sexualised.
"And when that does occur, it's almost as if the authority that you hold as a teacher is revoked and they're not looking at you as a teacher, they're looking at you as a young woman."
Teaching has remained a predominantly female profession.
The Australian Curriculum, Assessment and Reporting Authority said seven out of every 10 teachers identified as female, a number that increased to more than eight out of every 10 in primary school ranks.
There have been ongoing concerns about the rise of misogyny in Australian classrooms, led by online influencers such as Andrew Tate.
Ms Duffus said while she probably bore the brunt of bad behaviour as a relief teacher, the behaviour she had witnessed had been emotionally and physically taxing.
From having a 16-year-old female student tell a male classmate that, "Miss wants to f*ck you", to Year 9 students projecting p*rnography on a whiteboard behind her while she took the roll, Ms Duffus said she had seen it all.
She said at times it made her feel like an emotional prostitute.
"I was accepting large sums of money to be the teenagers’ punching bag for the day," she said in an essay on her experience.
"By failing to come down hard on their sexist behaviour — because I didn’t know their names, lacked access to their electronic records, or simply couldn’t be bothered — I was somehow complicit in a system that was making teachers’ lives worse."
National issue
Former teacher and principal, Adam Voigt, said misogyny in classrooms was nothing new.
But Mr Voigt said the prevalence of such misogyny, and the harm it caused, was still concerning.
"At the moment, there is a really marked and alarming spike in the way that male students are treating females," Mr Voigt said.
"That's having a significant impact on their mental health and their likelihood of staying in the profession too."
About an hour from where Ms Duffus began her teaching journey in Terang, Warrnambool College has found itself at the centre of WorkSafe, Education Department dispute over teacher safety.
A number of former Warrnambool College teachers have since told the ABC the student behaviour at the school was "vulgar and violent".
A recent study by Monash University found teachers were facing a rise in misogynistic behaviour everywhere.
The study found "widespread experience of sexual harassment, sexism and misogyny perpetrated by boys towards women teachers, and the ominous presence of [Andrew] Tate shaping their behaviour".
Mr Voigt, who works as an educational speaker, said teachers and school leaders were "screaming" for support.
He said substitute teachers were baring the brunt of the bad behaviour.
"What we've known for the last two or three decades now is that the number one stressor of teachers is student behaviour," he said.
"It's the thing that's driving them out of the classroom more than any other factors — including pay and including workload."
Mr Voigt said it was time for teachers and parents to have a frank conversation about the way young men were being raised and their subsequent treatment of women.
On the road
Ms Duffus said she would continue her journey around Australia, stopping in and providing relief teaching as she went.
The next stop on her journey was Darwin, where her partner had secured locum work as a doctor.
Ms Duffus said while a rotating roster of relief teachers undoubtedly had an impact, it was important to remember there was a human at the end of the abuse.
"The discontent is real," she said.
"Yet the way in which some students are dealing with their frustrations — with sexism towards teachers — is unacceptable.
"They're reacting against a system that's under an immense amount of pressure at the moment."
She said it was a pattern of behaviour that had concerned her since she started as a casual relief teacher.
"It's pretty horrible," she said.
The Australian Education Union did not respond to request for comment from the ABC.
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