Chanel Contos calls for toxic masculinity to be stamped out at Victorian schools

A sexual assault campaigner is calling for toxic masculinity and slut shaming to be addressed in Victoria’s new mandatory consent classes.

Toxic masculinity and slut shaming is set to be at the centre of Victoria’s new mandatory consent classes.

A leading sexual assault campaigner is calling for toxic masculinity and slut shaming to be at the centre of Victoria’s new mandatory consent classes.

Chanel Contos, who started a petition calling for better consent education in schools after receiving thousands of sexual assault allegations from secondary students, is helping the state government develop the new curriculum.

‘Respectful Relationships’ education is already taught in Victorian public schools, but students will soon have specific lessons about consent.

Ms Contos told the Herald Sun she has been working with Education Minister James Merlino’s department to contribute to the curriculum and push for key themes to be taught in Victorian schools.

“I’ve been working with them on creating the content … I feel like people don’t know that oral sex is sexual assault and that your boyfriend, friend or someone you know personally can rape you – this needs to be taught,” she said.

The former Kambala student Chanel Contos launched a petition calling for better consent education in schools.

“We need to talk about the difference between toxic masculinity and normal masculinity. We need to talk about slut shaming and the fact that girls’ sexual pleasure is so taboo.”

She said she hoped consent education would also be taught in independent and religious schools.

“I think some of the schools will adopt it because they want to fix the issue. But it could be problematic in religious schools,” she said.

“If we’re teaching about sex from a biological sense then we have to teach consent hand-in-hand.”

Deakin University Associate Professor Debbie Ollis, who is a lead researcher in education and helped develop ‘Respectful Relationships’, said the curriculum needed to be constantly updated to stay relevant.

She suggested issues including toxic masculinity could be taught to students throughout classroom activities, including analysis of the impact of social media and media.

“Students can explore made-up online posts and unpack them. Real life case studies are really important to unpack the sorts of messages that young people are getting about masculinity, femininity, slut shaming and rape culture in general,” she said.

Mr Merlino said work was underway to prepare schools for the change to the curriculum to make consent education mandatory from the beginning of term 2.

“This is an important change and one that needs to be done right. This is an issue we are seeing right across the country and Victoria is leading the way. I hope to see more states and territories take this important step,” he said.

“We need to listen to our students and that is why we will further improve our nation-leading teaching resources provided through the Respectful Relationships program in regards to consent.

“Throughout that process we will consult with the experts on respectful relationships and continue our discussions with Chanel Contos to make sure we remain a leader in this field.”

Australian Education Union Victorian branch president Meredith Peace said the union believed the renewed focus on consent in the Victorian curriculum was a welcomed step forward in addressing gendered violence and sexual assault.

“It is incumbent on the government to provide schools with the required resources and support to ensure these changes are implemented effectively,” Ms Peace said.

“These issues are concerns for our whole community to address.

“Teachers play an important role in helping young people understand consent and respectful relationships, however the shocking stories that have been shared through Ms Contos’ petition show how important it is for our whole community to play a role in addressing them.”