Cranbrook prefect Asher Learmonth’s speech in wake of Chanel Contos’ sex assault petition

The head prefect of elite private school Cranbrook has implored his peers to reconsider how they treat women, in the wake of a Chanel Contos’s petition signed by 1400 girls saying they were raped or sexually assaulted.

The head prefect at prestigious Cranbrook School has delivered a rousing speech to fellow schoolboys calling for an end to using young women for sex as currency for popularity.

Offering a stark insight into the minds of private schoolboys, student Asher Learmonth on Thursday told peers at the $38,860-a-year school that far too many of them see women as “shamelessly oversexualised — mere objects of our desires, and a vehicle for validation or popularity”.

The head prefect at Bellevue Hill’s Cranbrook School has addressed his peers about how to treat women.

Addressing peers in a move to address rape claims, the Year 12 student said: “Despite the regular, valuable and powerful talks we have received about consent and respect over the years, sadly, it appears that these speeches haven’t had the intended and crucial impact. I’ve thought incredibly hard about why — and to be frank, I’m still not quite sure what the real answer is.

“So today, I’m here … to talk to you as a peer, as a mate, as a Cranbrookian, as someone who goes out with some of you boys, and someone desperate to make change.

“This time, I hope you will listen.

“I would also like to acknowledge that there have been times when I’ve heard about disgusting behaviour and not done anything about it, times when I’ve tolerated boys referring to women in derogatory ways … times when I’ve stood by.

“However, as I’ve grown up, I’ve become a far better person and learnt from my past behaviour and made an honest attempt to fix it. I do believe that as I am now, I practice what I will preach – as so many of the boys in this room also do.

“I’m also not going to be arrogant and say that there is one cause for this problem and in the next few minutes I will make a speech that will entirely fix the endemic issue of sexual assault.

Former Kambala student Chanel Contos who started an anonymous online petition to improve sex and consent education in schools across Australia.

“But, in our case, at our age, at Cranbrook, I do think there is a very specific and damaging attitude many of we boys have that is one of the key roots of this issue. This is it: I cannot tell you how many times I’ve been to a party or gathering and had someone come up to me looking irritated, angry at something. I will always ask, ‘What’s up? What’s going on with you?’.

“To which that person will respond, ‘Mate, Phoebe is such a tease!’ ‘Oh really? Why’s that?’ ‘I was talking to her all night, right. We were laughing, dancing together, she even touched my leg at one point. Like come on, right? But before she was about to leave, I went to hook up with her and she pulled away! I can’t believe she led me on the entire night when there are so many other chicks I could’ve been getting with!’

“Sound familiar? That sort of thing is said. All. The. Time. And recently I’ve spent a lot of time thinking about why?

“It’s because everyone in this room goes to an all-boys school. In year 8 or 9 you’ll probably start meeting girls at gatherings and parties. But … these girls aren’t the people you’re looking to have lunch with on a Sunday, are they?

“They’re not the ones you would want to hang out with after school like I do with my mate Lachy, you wouldn’t study with them for example or play sport together, you wouldn’t have dinners with their family when your parents are away.

“No. They’re people you see once a week. From the hours of 7-11 on a Saturday night. In a completely artificial environment.

“You might have spent the Friday lunch the day before discussing which girl you wanted to hook up with and which one your mate had his eyes on. Maybe you sent the girl a text on the Saturday morning to let her know you’re interested.

“You’d most likely go to the ‘gatho’ with the mindset that you’re there to hook up with as many girls as you can, or maybe just the ‘fittest’ one … just so you could tell your mates.

“You wouldn’t care what the girl’s interests were or what she was passionate about, what kind of music she liked or whether she made you laugh, because as I said, you see her once a week, you weren’t looking to be her mate. Chicks aren’t there to be your friend, they’re a means to end, a conquest, another dash on your hook-up tally, the topic of a vulgar conversation on a Monday morning with the boys.

Former Redlands School student Bronte Vanderfield says she was raped by a friend at her family home in North Sydney. Picture: Sydney Telegraph / Dylan Coker

“For too many of we men, especially from the years of 8-10, women are completely and shamelessly oversexualised — mere objects of our desires, and a vehicle for validation or popularity amongst our year group.

“Barnt mate, I got with four chicks on the weekend when you got with one.”

“That’s why when you ask a girl to go around the back and she’s obviously hesitant, giving you no reason to think that the situation is consensual, you pressure her, you persuade her, you try desperately to convince her, and maybe, just maybe, you’ll end up ruining a young woman’s life.

“I ask one thing from you boys. And that is to properly acknowledge what I’ve said. I beg that you refuse to leave this gym and laugh with the mate beside you about how dumb it is that you’re being spoken to, once again, about how to respect women.

“Don’t let yourself agree with the bloke who at recess argues that this kind of thing doesn’t occur at Cranbrook, that the girl who started the petition is some ‘stupid Feminist’ out to ruin the reputation of our school.

“Don’t allow yourself to slip into complacent denial by disregarding this situation as just a bunch of hysterical girls making things up or … journalists with vendettas against private schools. Don’t lie to yourself. Don’t make excuses.

“Instead, identify this sexist and reductive attitude within yourself, within the boys you go out with. Change the way you view women. Change it.

“That Phoebe girl who the boy called a tease, who apparently led him on, she was being polite, friendly, she saw that conversation as maybe the start of new friendship.

“You boys need to think the same way. The fact we go to an all-boys school means that, during your years at school, a lot of you might not have the privilege to form close friendships with girls outside of parties. Likely, you will continue to only see them on Saturday nights. That is absolutely normal.

“But when this Saturday night comes around and you go out with your school mates to see some girls, at least you will have acknowledged how grossly you may have mischaracterised them. It is crucial you recognise this.

“That acknowledgment — like the one I made a couple years ago — that identification of your own foul attitudes, changes everything.

“Boys, and sadly it should go without saying, women are just as interesting as you, just as smart, just as funny, have just as many insights, are just as impressive, are just as good value. “You don’t need a sister or mother to understand this. Women are people just like you. People to get to know. People to love People to be friends with. Don’t deprive them of this truth.”