Sexuality and slut-shaming: The need for education reform in Australia

SBS

International
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21.2.2022
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Incidents of sexual assault have one crucial thing in common: education, or lack thereof.

That's the view of Chanel Contos, whose calls for a more comprehensive sex education curriculum have been echoed across Australia in recent weeks.

The 22-year-old activist, who has shared thousands of accounts of sexual assault and rape in Australian schools over the past three weeks, says that enthusiastic consent, shaming of women and sexual coercion are some of the key issues that are not being adequately taught to young Australian students.

Highlights:

  • Chanel Contos, a 22-year-old activist from Sydney, is calling for the adoption of a more comprehensive sex education curriculum in Australia.
  • Cotos has shared thousands of stories of sexual assault and rape in Australian schools.
  • Incidents of sexual assault have one crucial thing in common: education, or lack thereof.

"It shows that this problem affects all of society and all institutions, and also that schools have a common denominator and can be the catalyst for change," Contos told SBS News from London.

"It is a reflection of the rape culture society we live in.

"However, the victim is often the one who bears the burden of that, whether because of shame, regret or mental health problems.

Contos' petition was published on 18 February, a week before the ABC first reported a landmark rape allegation against Attorney General Christian Porter.

Christian Porter has strongly denied allegations that he raped a 16-year-old girl in Sydney in 1988, and has rejected calls for him to step aside, warning that he has become a victim of the media trial.

Meanwhile, Prime Minister Scott Morrison has rejected growing calls for an independent enquiry into the allegations against Porter, insisting that the police investigation is now closed and stressing the need to uphold the "rule of law".

The alleged victim committed suicide in June 2020.

Read the full story on SBS

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