Australia needs a sex consent education overhaul to ensure people are “porn literate,” with a leading activist warning its consumption could lead to a mass form of grooming.
In an address to the National Press Club on Wednesday, Chanel Contos likened sex education from watching porn among young people to learning to drive from watching Formula One.
This created a “treacherous” environment for girls and women.
“We need more comprehensive porn literacy to counteract an indoctrinating force that’s distorting the sexual landscape for young people,” she said.
“At what point does the mass consumption of pornography, particularly among youth, become a mass form of grooming that normalises sexual violence.”
Contos cited statistics showing pornography was the main form of sex education for young people in Australia, with more than half of 11-13-year-olds already exposed to it.
Pornography was commonly used by sexual predators to groom their victims into normalising violent acts, she said.
Contos, who successfully campaigned for consent education to be mandated in the Australian curriculum, also called for a review of the criminal justice system.
“It fails to bring justice,” she said.
“The binary of no consequences or jail time is simply not good enough, and doesn’t reflect the nuance or real desires of many victim-survivors.”
With conviction rates of sexual assault in Australia sitting at 1.5 per cent, this meant the country had “essentially decriminalised” sexual assault, Contos said.
She said the nation needed restorative justice options and mediation avenues that centred on apology, empathy, and the prevention of re-offending.
Contos said the next step was for the government to build a new generation of teachers so they could educate students about respectful relationships.
Perpetrators of sexual assault were often confident, powerful and opportunistic, which Contos said were characteristics in men valued by society.
She said Australia needed to counteract these attitudes and ensure boys’ schools became places of empathy and kindness, and that these too became expressions of manhood.
Contos said Australia had the potential to be a world leader in gender equality but needed to make it a priority.
If you or someone you know is impacted by sexual assault, call 1800RESPECT on 1800 737 732 or visit
. In an emergency, call 000.
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