Chanel Contos calls for consent to be added to curriculum earlier
22-year-old Chanel Contos penned a petition after collecting thousands of testimonies from young girls who claim they were assaulted at the hands of boyfriends or older boys.
The petition started after an informal Instagram poll asking “If you live in Sydney: Have you or has anyone close to you experienced sexual assault from someone who went to an all boys school?” garnered a tremendous response with close to 300 responses.
72% of people had answered yes.
READ MORE: Survey finds 7 out of 10 Greek women have been victim of sexual harrassment or abuse
Overwhelmed by distressing accounts, the ex-Kambala High School student put together the teachusconsent.com website highlighting close to two thousand testimonies (so far) and a petition for “consent to be included in Australian schools’ sex education earlier”.
The online petition along with the harrowing testimonies will be sent to MPs across Australia to advocate for change.
Aside from being able to sign the petition, people can also share their own testimony.
Ms Contos hopes the website ‘will expose the rape culture in our society’ that is still prevalent today.
Viral petition by Chanel Contos: 4,000+ people come forward with allegations of sexual assault
*Content warning: This story may contain graphic descriptions and strong language, which could be confronting and disturbing.
Greek Australian Chanel Contos, creator of the petition to have consent and rape culture integrated into sexual education much earlier in the curriculum, has launched a website.
Her movement is growing massively by the day.
There are more than 21,804 signatories. And 4,000+ of sexual assault horror stories.
On the website www.teachusconsent.com, you can sign the petition for sexual education to be taught in schools from a young age, email your old school/ your MP or submit a personal testimony of assault.
“1500 is the amount of testimonies that have been reviewed,” she posted on her Instagram.
Many of the testimonies express the deep shame and trauma the young women have carried with them for a significant period of time before they dared to tell anyone.
Contos’ mission is to overhaul sexual education in schools across the entirety of Australia, and is asking that the curriculum include a varying range of topics such as sexual coercion, victim-blaming, toxic masculinity, slut-shaming, rape culture, female pleasure and queer sex.
All testimonies and signatories will be presented to MPs across the country to advocate for greater sex ed at an earlier age across Australia.
If you would like to sign the petition, or submit an anonymous testimony, you can do so here.
Where to find support if you have been impacted by rape, sexual assault or domestic violence:
Australia:
National Sexual Assault, Domestic Violence Counselling Service 24-hour helpline 1800 RESPECT on 1800 737 732
Lifeline (24 hour crisis line): 131 114
Beyond Blue: 1300 224 636
International:
Chanel Contos petition: Private schools vow to stop student sexual abuse
Viral petition on sexual assault pushes for change in Sydney private schools A new petition that has gathered more than 3000 testimonies of alleged sexual assault committed by high school students is going viral.
NSW Police have met with senior stakeholders in the education sector after a new petition that gathered more than 3000 testimonies of alleged sexual assault committed by high school students went viral.
The petition, which called for more thorough and earlier education about consent, was started by Chanel Contos, a former student of Sydney’s Kambala School.
She is hoping to draw attention to how frequently girls experience sexual assault from all-boys’ school students in the city.
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In a statement, NSW Police said they addressed the concerns at a meeting with the NSW Department of Education, Association of Independent Schools and Catholic Schools NSW on Friday.
“A commitment was made to establish a statement of intent to address the issue of sexual violence within NSW schools,” NSW Police said.
“Some of the key elements that will be considered during this process include but are not limited to: consent education, protocols on reporting, and most importantly the safety, welfare and wellbeing of young people.
Chanel Contos’s petition called for more thorough and earlier education about consent.
“Through co-operation, collaboration and communication, the NSW Police Force and our partners in education are committed to providing schools with all available resources to create safe spaces for learning and empowerment.”
The independent schools association also announced on Friday that it had established a high-level team to enhance its support to schools on “safety, respectful relationships and consent” among students.
AISNSW chief executive Geoff Newcombe said the issues were among the “most significant” facing schools.
“The responsibility for ensuring school students have the knowledge and understanding to respond to these issues is a collective one that belongs to everybody who interacts with young people,” Dr Newcombe said.
“It’s clear from the disturbing accounts from students that have emerged recently that schools and their support bodies must rethink some of their approaches to these matters and make improvements where necessary.
Former Kambala student Chanel Contos started an anonymous online petition to improve sex and consent education in schools across Australia. Picture: Supplied
“The measures currently taken to educate and appropriately support students in this area are extensive and wide-ranging,” Dr Newcombe said.
“Nevertheless, I am keen to explore with our member schools how we might enhance those offerings to ensure the safety and wellbeing of children and young people in our schools.”
The Catholic Education Commission of Victoria (CECV) also came out and offered its support to the affected students.
“The confronting examples of harmful, disrespectful, and, in many cases, abusive sexual contact between students, shared online and in the media, cannot be ignored,” it said in a statement.
“Catholic schools utilise a range of programs including the respectful relationships program, to help form appropriate interpersonal behaviours and respectful attitudes among the student cohort, as enshrined in Gospel values.
“However, recent days have shown that much more needs to be done to ensure the safety of our young people.”
Anthony Piovesan State political reporter Melbourne Anthony Piovesan is the News Corp NewsWire’s Victorian state political reporter.
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