NSW invests millions into its first sexual assault strategy

NSW’s domestic violence minister is pushing a new strategy that requires all people to verbally ask for consent before having sex.

THE New South Wales government will fork out $200 million over the next four years to teach schoolchildren how to defend themselves against sexual assault and to teach teenagers that silence doesn’t mean yes.

The money will go towards the state’s first sexual assault strategy being rolled out in schools from kindergarten to Year 12, meaning children as young as four could be taught about understanding consent.

The government will also launch a $1 million ad campaign on sexual consent, telling young adults if they don’t get a clear and verbal “yes” then they shouldn’t be pushing forward.

“If you want sex you have to ask for it and if you want that sex, you have to say ‘yes’,” Prevention of Domestic Violence and Sexual Assault Minister Pru Goward told The Daily Telegraph.

The strategy will also focus on preventing sexual assault and harassment in universities and workplaces as well as protecting victims.

The campaign will put signs and beer coasters splashed with messages like “no means no” and “silence is not yes” in pubs and bars encouraging young people to think before having sex.

Minister Pru Goward has launched a review into the state’s sexual consent laws. Picture: Hollie Adams

Ms Goward suggested sex would be considered rape unless the consent was verbalised.

A review of the state’s consent laws came after Luke Lazarus, the man accused of raping Saxon Mullins in an alleyway behind a Kings Cross nightclub in 2013, was acquitted after a five year legal case.

Ms Mullins, now aged 23, bravely waived her right to anonymity to share her story with ABC’s Four Corners in May — around a year after Mr Lazarus’ acquittal in 2017 — which sparked a national debate about sexual consent.

Following the episode going to air, NSW Attorney-General Mark Speakman referred the laws to the Law Reform Commission after questions were raised about their adequacy, fairness and clarity.

Ms Goward said: “The affect, effect of sexual assault on victims is profound and long-lasting, and it requires a whole of community response if we are to reduce the number of incidents and the damage caused by this crime.

“The NSW Government’s Sexual Assault Strategy proposes an integrated response that is not just focused on the crisis point of the system, but also in the critical areas of prevention and early intervention.”

She said any adult survivors of child sexual abuse on the state’s social housing waiting list will be prioritised as part of the strategy.

If NSW does reform its sexual consent laws, it will join Tasmania in being one of Australia’s strictest states when it comes to establishing positive consent.

“You must explicitly ask for permission to have sex. If it’s not an enthusiastic yes, then it’s a no,” Ms Goward said in May, after she called for NSW’s laws to change.

The move left some people on social media asking questions.

This is crazy.

Without a verbal ‘yes’ you’ll be considered a rapist.

What if two people are tearing each other’s clothes off, @PruGoward? Surely that’s enough to imply consent?

Can a female be considered a rapist if she doesn’t ask directly for sex after initiating it? pic.twitter.com/O2sRUaIuBz

— Sandy Lanceley (@sandylanceley) July 5, 2018

Ms Goward’s decision to upgrade the NSW school curriculum comes less than six months after Scotland announced it would be teaching pre-school children about the concept of “consent”.

Under a push from the Scottish National Party to combat violence against women, children as young as two could receive lessons about consent.

The proposal, titled “Equally Safe: A deliver plan for Scotland’s strategy to prevent and eradicate violence against women and girls”, caused an outcry from family groups who claimed it was “ridiculous” to teach preschool age children about consent.

Along with teaching schoolchildren the importance of consent and healthy relationships, the plan also saw Rape Crisis Scotland’s sexual violence prevention education program rolled out across a further 11 schools.

— With Wires