If my school/state provided better Sex Ed I would be better educated around consent and would never have been coerced, drugged and raped.

Only now I am dealing with my “historical rape” case where I am learning less can be done because of the time waited in coming forward, and lack of physical evidence (no kit was done).

BOTH boys and girls need the same education on consent not “us and them”, the same.

While I did appreciate the various seminars/guest teachers who came in and taught things like self defence, and there was one (1) lesson in PE about how to apply a condom, there was absolutely no education about consent – how to give it, how to seek it, why it’s important. Many private schools who are religiously affiliated use this as a shield to not talk about sex, but all this does is feed into the culture of shame and stigma of having sex, and does nothing to protect and empower young people. Schools MUST teach sex-positive lessons on consent, birth control, and how to report a sexual assault if we are going to see any change in the multi-decade endemic of sexual assault and other awful sexual behaviours by students/alumni of Sydney private schools.

I was at a Marcellin house party 2015 I was intoxicated but not overly. 12am I ordered a Uber and waited outside the house by myself. When I was waiting a group of 3 younger boys (by maybe 2 years) came out and started to talk to me. It was a costume party I was dressed as Katara from Avatar, and she has a choker necklace. Boy 1 said you look like a you’re from a brothel, ‘can you feel my dick’. I said no. Boy 2 said ‘oh come on just try’ I tried to move around but I was cornered into the little fence. Boy 1 grabbed my arm, stretched his shorts and moved my arm into his pants. Luckily my Uber came in time to save me. Not until last year (2020) I realised this was not okay. I’ve ignored this memory, was and still am angry at my self for not doing more.

I was sexually assaulted by a Mountain Creek State High School student who graduated in 2019. There was never a class dedicated to consent, nor the subject even touched on. Teaching consent is more important than wearing the drinking goggles and putting a condom on a banana for fun.

The rate at which myself and peers have been or are exposed to sexual harassment, violations or ignorance to consent is exponential in the Geelong Secondary School System and therefore into early adulthood. Consent is ignored. Sexual experiences, for me and for so many of my friends and peers has been an exploitative, forceful and traumatic experiences due to the lack of understanding and respect for boundaries

Upon graduating in 2018, I had experienced over 10 accounts of sexual misconduct, harassment and abuse. This was amplified by my mental health issues, which were ignored and sexual encounters forced upon me. I am now an adult who at 20 had a ‘friend’ coerce and force me to engage in sexual activity because he could not take no for a reasonable answer.

Straight, Cis Gendered Men – in particular – in the region and across the country, expect sex and sexual acts to be given to them, no matter the objections before hand.

The trauma I experienced due to the lack of respect and consent, harmed me and in that, I harmed others and myself.

Even in romantic relationships, there is a lack of understanding that you can say no to your partner and that be a reasonable response which requires no compromise – why is it then, that I must engage in sexual acts against my will?

Something must be done.

Told my family what happened (I was drunk when my sober best friend did it)…they responded with “you’re the reason why men are afraid of women, because false accusations like this can ruin a man’s life”. Haha. Yeah.

When I was in year X I was friends with a boy who went to barker and was older. I had known him for X years and I considered him to be one of my closest and most trusted friends. One night we met up at night in a park close to my home, I didn’t think anything of it because I was young and naive and the thought that he would hurt me never crossed my mind. He had bought me alcohol as I was underage and he had offered. He had drunk all of his drinks before we meet up and I wanted to save mine so I was sober that night. We talked for about an hour just catching up and then we lay on the concrete in the park looking at the stars. All of a sudden he said the words that still haunt me to this day; ‘alright, I’m gonna hookup with you now ‘ and proceeded to climb on top of me, kissing me, groping me and pinning me down. I kissed him back because I didn’t know what else to do. I was petrified of what would happen if I declined his advances. So I just lay there waiting for it to be over. Eventually he climbed off, laughed it off and drunkenly ran around for a bit, even suggesting we should hookup again. I said no (laughing it off because I was scared) faster than ever. Then made an excuse to go home. This incident did not sink in until a year later when I took a self defence course and they explained what sexual assault was classified as. Since then, I have been assaulted again and raped (taking my virginity). Obviously this has affected my life and relationships. I took up drugs to numb the thoughts and pain leading to run ins with police. I’ve since found a man I love and I get panic attacks when having sex (he is very understanding and helps me through it). These boys in school need to learn that silence is not consent! Please teach them sooner rather than later so no more young girls have to go through this traumatic experience that is unfortunately so common 🙁

I have done things i am not proud of. Things i still think about to this day that make me cringe and shudder. How could i have been so shortsighted? Lack so much empathy? A young boy who grew up fatherless not knowing how to behave. A slave to his warped teenage ideals. A slave to testosterone perhaps? No. That is no excuse. Young boys must be taught how to achieve mastery over themselves, harness their self control, give nothing but RESPECT to women and young girls, and above all, how to simply be good men.
– Scots 2014