How Consent Education can Help Eliminate Sexual Violence in Schools and Society

The International Day of Consent recently marked yet another year of urgently needed change. The day highlighted the ongoing importance of raising awareness and understanding of the role of conversations about consent and consent education in helping to eliminate sexual violence in our society. While it is vital that we make the most of these kinds of awareness-raising days and events, we cannot stop there. Every member of society has an opportunity and responsibility to make a difference every day.

While consent education was recently added to the school curriculum for years K-10, this should only signal step one in taking preventative measures against sexual violence. Young people are experiencing a growing range of often confusing and contradictory messages about what consent and respectful relationships look like. Contributing factors include the rise of ‘manfluencer’ culture and its impact in schools, misleading posts by OnlyFans models to social media, a lack of media critical literacy skills when consuming online pornography where recent reports show a third of young Australians are turning to learn about sex.

At Consent Labs, we recently celebrated reaching 100,000 students, educators, parents and carers across Australia. From the conversations our teams are having with young people every day, it’s clear that more needs to be done. It can be tempting to point to social media and the internet, and put the blame on those platforms or companies, but it is much more important to question and understand why young people are turning to these places for information about consent, sex, and respectful relationships.

Of course, there is a duty of care that businesses in these sectors have and should act on, but if we do not simultaneously address the reasons behind these platforms being used in the first place, we will never make meaningful progress in eliminating sexual violence in Australia.

We Need a Long-term Lens, Yesterday
Already this year, more than 50 women have allegedly been murdered by a man in instances of gendered violence in Australia. The UN Women’s 16 Days of Activism campaign highlights there is #NoExcuse for violence against women and girls. I agree, and it’s past time our political leaders invested in this complex issue with a long-term lens and evidence-based approach.

Recent funding announcements reference a five-year plan, and while this is progress, it will not be enough to end sexual violence. We need 10, 20, and 30+ year plans if we want future generations to experience a drastically different reality.

These long-term investments need to cover evidence-based training for educators, empowering them to be active bystanders in addressing harassment and harmful behaviours in school environments. They also need their own bespoke and ongoing training in how to deliver or contribute to consent and respectful relationships education to ensure they are confident in playing a constructive and positive role in their students’ communities.

No-one is Irrelevant in the Fight Against Sexual Violence
It cannot be left up to one person, group, or organisation to end sexual violence. Particularly when addressing the needs of young people and their ongoing demand for inclusive, evidence-based and comprehensive consent education, it will take every corner of society to ensure they get the support and answers they need. This includes teachers and their student peers in schools, political leaders and public service workers, corporate leaders and working professionals, and parents and carers to all play a conscious and proactive role in addressing sexual violence.

For every person, this role will look different. Our government has a unique and timely opportunity now to help educate Australians on what this role looks like and simple actions they can take to make a tangible difference.

Invite Young Men and Boys into the Conversation
We hear increasingly from the students and young people in our workshops that the messages from society about what “masculinity” is and what it means to be a man can be both alienating and confusing. Calling young men and boys into conversations to strike up new debates about manliness and healthy versions of masculinity are critical to driving change.

We cannot expect gender-based violence to end if boys are left out of the conversation. The reality is there are countless versions of healthy and positive masculinity, but isolating discussions about what is ‘right’ and ‘wrong’ to exclusively taking place among those in power or from a certain demographic will only cause further harm and confusion as young boys grow up and try to navigate these issues on their own.

By next year’s International Day of Consent, there will truly be no excuses if we are looking at the same dire stats and calls from young people for support. Our government and industry leaders have been repeatedly told of the need for a long-term lens, whole-of-society approach, and inclusive conversations with young men and boys. The onus is now on all of us to deliver this much-needed change.