The petition, started by Chanel Contos, a former student of Sydney’s Kambala girls’ school, has received more than 3,000 testimonies from students who experienced sexual assault by other students – including some as young as 13. Signed by thousands of people as of Sunday, the petition has prompted the heads of many of Sydney’s elite private schools to call for an overhaul of their own consent education. The petition, which since its launch has been expanded to include private schools across Australia, has seen the heads of dozens of schools commit to an overhaul of consent education. Dr Julie Townsend, the principal at St Catherine’s school, an all-girls school in Sydney, similarly said the testimonials were “heartbreaking”. It comes as the Victorian education minister, James Merlino, called for the nationwide rollout of the state “Respectful Relationships” education program in all schools following the release of the petition.

Source: The Guardian February 28, 2021 00:45 UTC