Chanel Contos’ ePetition has garnered the requisite 20,000 signatories to trigger parliamentary debate over the sex education curriculum in NSW.
NSW Parliament will now debate whether slut shaming, toxic masculinity and rape culture should be taught in the state’s sex education curriculum.
Contos’ petition calls for earlier sex education in schools, including on consent, victim blaming and queer sex, and includes testimonies from thousands of past and present high school students about their experience of sexual harassment and assault in high school.
“We request that consent is taught earlier to reduce the extent of sexual assault experiences amongst youth in New South Wales,” the petition states.
“We, the undersigned petitioners request that holistic consent sex education be included in the curriculum, that acknowledges toxic masculinity, rape culture, slut shaming, victim blaming, sexual coercion, and enthusiastic consent, as well queer sex education.”
The announcement of parliamentary debate comes after the state government vowed to overhaul sexual assault laws and introduce an “affirmative consent model” on Tuesday.
Education Minister, Sarah Mitchell, says curriculum and teaching resources will be updated to reflect a recent announcement to overhaul sexual assault laws.
Contos is leading the charge for the overhauls. She plans to meet Prime Minister Scott Morrison and has met with several private school alumni associations.
Source: Sydney Morning Herald.
