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The following testimonies of sexual assault were the bedrock of the campaign to mandate consent education in the national curriculum. They were voluntarily sent to Teach Us Consent by those who emphatically believe that inadequate consent education was the reason for the sexual abuse they experienced during or soon after school. Indivually and collectively, these lived experiences were pivotal in laying bare the breadth and depth of rape culture to policy makers in Australia.

Please note dates are the graduating years. Victim-survivors and perpetrators will remain anonymous.

Trigger warning: sexual assault
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There have been a number of times where I have been drunk and ended up in a situation with a boy, then deciding I no longer wanted to be there. I would try to walk away and leave the situation, my body language was unmistakably showing I wasn't interested, sometimes I'd even say 'no, I don't want to'. Every time, I for some reason always felt like I wasn't entitled to change my mind, like I had put myself in the situation so I had to just suck it up. Sometimes I didn't just think this on my own, but was told it by the boy himself. Despite these instances, I would never have told anyone or even thought of myself as someone who had experienced sexual assault, because what happened to me 'wasn't that bad' and I felt I played some sort of role in it. It's scary how your petition and your posts remind me of these times and 5, 6, 7 years on I still feel sick in the stomach about the times I convinced myself I 'wasn't sexually assaulted'.

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I high school I got drunk at a party and fell asleep on a couch in the living room. When I woke up two boys from my school had pulled down my shirt and bra and were touching my chest. There were other people in the room and no one said or did anything to stop them. One was in the same age as me and one was in a younger year.

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He was an older X boy who took my virginity at a house party. We had been flirting, and hanging out with mutual friends for a couple of months. I was too drunk to think about whether I actually wanted to have sex with him, he didn't speak to me throughout or ever ask that I was ok or consenting. The next time I saw him he tried to have sex with me again. I continuously told him 'no' but he insisted it was ok because this time he would wear a condom this time. I still said no many times and told him the condom wasn't the only issue, but was already semi-undressed in his bed and felt I could only leave by giving in and having sex with him. It was later pointed out to me that this sounded like date rape, but I told my friend it was fine I was actually happy about it, out of fear of acknowledging the situation for what it was, and what that would mean for our group of friends, and for myself '' I felt I had failed myself if I had "let myself be raped".

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I was sexually assaulted in 2012 when I was 16 years old. A girl at school I had recently become friends with invited me to her birthday party at her house which I went to with a few friends. She invited a group of older guys to the party. Later into the night while a group of us were watching a movie one of the older guys held me down by my wrists and raped me. I distinctly remember saying please stop and no I don't want to but once I realised he wasn't going to stop I detached from my body. When I went back to school a week later the girl who held the party blamed me for what happened and I was bullied to the point that I dropped out of school.

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I am lucky I managed to get out a lot of situations where this happened but that doesn't other stuff hasn't happened I have been groped countless times and the first time I got cat called was at the ripe old age of 11. When I casually bring up oh yeah that creepy man followed me again it doesn't seem to phase anybody. I have been on a bus where there were X and X kids who where intoxicated and where making jokes on who could force me into bed. And a lot of the stuff I haven't come forward about because I am terrified of what will happen and re living that trauma day after day. I moved to a co Ed school and had this boy continue run his hand up my leg and touch my vagina and arse. When I brought it up with some mates they did and continue to pressure me to come forward but not because what he did was disgusting but because it would benefit them cause they don't like him.

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When I was about 15 years old I got drunk at a party on New Year's Eve, I ended up leaving the party to stay at a friends house but after having an argument with another girl there I decided to go back to the house the party was at and stay there for the night. When I got back there one of my male friends was still there also. They grabbed me a single mattress and put it in the lounge room next to the lounge that my friend was sleeping on. He started to reach down from the couch and tried to touch me, I kept saying no, quite a few times. I was so extremely tired at this point that I ended up falling asleep. I am not sure 100% what had happened but I am pretty certain he continued to finger me after I had passed out on the mattress. I never told anyone as I thought it was probably my fault and they would call me a slut. I had never been touched before, he was the first person I had done anything sexual with and it was not consensual.

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The boys in my year would share nude pictures my classmates had sent their boyfriends, amassing photos from girls in our year, the year below and above - all without their (the girls) knowledge. They would brag about this openly to other people, even offer to show them.

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In primary school, the boys in my year level would grope and kiss girls without their consent. We thought it was normal and just laughed about it, but I realise now how messed up it was. They told us not to worry about it, that it was just them being silly. I remember one girl being constantly harassed by this other boy, it continued well into high school, and to this day I'm terrified that without proper education these guys will continue without reprimand.

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It wasn't at school but in my 20s I was taken home from a club by a guy who I thought was nice and caring turns out he wasn't and he stayed in my bed and sexually assaulted me while I was passed out. Then told all his friends about it.

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I was assaulted overseas by a student while attending an international school trip. He was there for a school rugby trip. He dug his fingers inside me and told me he wouldn't let me go until he came. I blacked out and woke up with him on top of me. I never reported it because I'd been drinking at at the time didn't realise the gravity of what had happened to me and have held onto that memory for 17 years.

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In 2014, I was 15 and in grade 11. I was interested in a boy in grade 12. He lied to me about being a virgin so I would feel more comfortable losing my virginity. We had slept together a few times across a couple of months. One day, I went to his house after school and consented to sex. Throughout the encounter, I changed my mind and said I wanted to go home but he did not stop. He was my ride home as I didn't have my license. Before driving me home we went to his footy game where he proceeded to gloat to his footy friends about how rough the encounter was that it broke the bed. After he dropped me home he ignored me from there on.

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I was 13 at a friend's party. I had been drinking but I wasn't drunk because my grandma was picking me up at 11. My boyfriends friends were at the party aged around 14/15. One of them I didn't know very well followed me into the bathroom and pinned me up against the wall with the towel rack banged so hard up against my spine and started hooking up with me. It was dark because I didn't know where the lights where in the bathroom. I freaked out and pushed him off in so much pain in my back and my lip because he kissed me so aggressively and bit me hard. I tasted blood. He grabbed my arms and pulled me onto my Knees and he sat on the toilet lid (closed) with his pants and undies pulled down. He tried to push my head down. I'm so lucky that a group of girls started opening the door so he put his pants back on and walked out as if he was proud and hiding something like as if we had been in there doing stuff. I only knew a few people at the party and didn't know what to do. My grandma picked me up 10 minutes late and she told me I had lipstick smeared on me and it was blood from my lip. She scolded me for kissing a boy. My boyfriend broke up with me and told everyone at his school that I was a whore who cheated on him with his friend.

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I was at a friends dads 50th birthday and her brothers friend kept hitting on me. I was very clear I wasn't interested - he took my rudeness towards him as 'playing hard to get'. I genuinely was not interested in him and being polite to him wasn't working so I decided to be rude so that he would leave me alone. I went to sleep on the couch that night. He followed me in there shortly after and started taking my clothes off without my consent. I told him repeatedly to stop, gave him all the reasons under the sun as to why I didn't want it. He didn't care or listen. I ended up just freezing I was so scared I didn't know what to do. He raped me. I cried the whole time. I did not give consent.

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I was 16, I went to X. He went to X. I was very drunk and vulnerable and he forced me to take more drugs. He took my clothes off me and took my phone. He forced himself on me for hours doing sexual things to me while I repeatedly said no over and over again but he still didn't listen. I found out later he had done similar things to others

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I was in year 7 and was catching the train home from school in my uniform, it was pretty packed and hot. I saw a man staring at me and moving weirdly and I realised he was masturbating and staring directly at me. I was sitting at the window with a man next to me so couldn't just get up and was in too much shock to ask him to let me through. When I did get up at my stop I saw other people staring at me and I realised that they all knew it was happening and just didn't do anything.

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I'm not even 16 yet and TWO of my best friends were assaulted last year. One was raped. Both boys were from all-boy private schools in sydney. I dont have that many close friends, so the fact that in one year it happened to two? I can't help but think "what if i'm next." I'm terrified.

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I met a seemingly sweet guy from X on a night out in Manly. I was quite drunk at the time and we ended up hooking up. I insisted that we use a condom and he grudgingly went and bought some. Despite this, he took it off during sex without my consent and tried to hold me down to keep going after I realised what he'd done.

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I was first sexually assaulted at age 13 when a boy pushed me against the wall and put his hand down my top as a 'dare' I told the teacher and was told 'you have boobs yet so it doesn't matter' and over the years the sexual assault from different people escalated until I was raped down an alleyway. Not once did I tell anyone after that first experience though.

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My best guy friend from school and I were sleeping in the same bed a schoolies and I woke up to him pushing his penis into me and trying to kiss me. I had no idea what was happening and didn't know what to do or say so I went a lot with it. To justify this I tried to date him for 3 months after and would consensually kiss him (but only in secret). He brought girls around in front of me to try and gaslight me. Finally when I said I can't be friends with him anymore he spread horrible rumours about me and as a result I lost all my school friends. I never even told anyone what he did.

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I had a boyfriend in year 8. He would always pressure me to perform oral sex on him or let him do it to me and after a while i stopped saying no, i always felt off about it but i thought it was normal because he was my boyfriend. The night i lost my virginity to him (after a lot of pressuring) his friends ran into the room and i was so embarrassed he was just on top of me laughing. He would refuse to wear condoms and never payed for emergency contraception. I only realised when talking to my older cousin how manipulative he was and how wrong i was being treated. Boys need to be educated.

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I was groped multiple times while in class. I reported it and asked to speak to someone about it on three separate occasions, however I was never once spoken to. He has never had any consequences.

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My first boyfriend would manipulate me into sleeping with him and start fights with me if I said no, and wouldn't stop until he got what he wanted. One time he forced me to go down on him while I was crying and having a panic attack and told me I was being selfish for not wanting to do it. At school I was taught to 'just say no' but I would have been spared a lot of anguish if we'd been taught more about manipulation and to recognise patterns of assault or abuse for what they are.

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I can honestly think of 5 instances of rape or assault that I was the victim of. The individuals (plural) forced me to perform oral sex on them on several occasions using coercion and lies, then proceeded to bully and harass me as an 'ugly slut' and made up stories like 'i bit them' and to a point where I had to leave the school. They continued to harass and bully me via social media (at the time it was MSN messenger) even though I changed schools.

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I was raped by my high school boyfriend when I was 16. We were both in year 11, he would constantly emotionally abuse me and told me I'm crazy and that I'm delusional. Every time he wanted to have sex I would try to lie my way out of it and he would slam me down and choke me then proceeds to have sex with me. He filmed me without consent multiple times, I did ask him to delete it and he told me I didn't trust him. He then started crying telling me how hurt me was because I had the audacity to tell to delete the sex tapes even though he's my boyfriend.

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Testimony

Although the original campaign has achieved its goal, we have decided to keep testimony submissions open. We hope you find solidarity, liberation or healing in anonymously telling your story.

Thank you for submitting your testimony. We are sorry to hear of your experience and the impact this has had on you.

As we are unable to provide formal or ongoing support, you may wish to seek professional support. 1800RESPECT, the national domestic, family, and sexual violence counselling, information and support service can be contacted on 1800 737 732  or via their website at www.1800RESPECT.org.au, 24-hours a day, 7 days a week. Details of other support services are included on Teach Us Consent’s website on the 'support' page.
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