TRANSCRIPT
"Leia: Stop that!
Han Solo: Stop What?
Leia: Stop that, my hands are dirty.
Han Solo: My hands are dirty too, what are you afraid of."
Teaching the principles of consent from an early age should be simple.
But across well-known media aimed at young minds, there are numerous examples which give the wrong idea.
Like Harrison Ford's Han Solo, whose on-screen bad behaviour, coming onto and hugging Carrie Fisher's Princess Leia, despite her telling him to stop - and fighting back - is rewarded without consequences, when the characters share a kiss moments later.
Chanel Contos, consent activist and founder of Teach Us Consent, says proper consent education is essential when popular culture so often falls short.
"It's really important as a civic society and community that we're delivering consistent and clear messaging, because a lot of the media that young people consume, whether it's in TV shows, movies, and also pornography can often be completely counteractive, to what we're trying to promote. It can be as simple as a rom-com where, you know, the protagonist is consistently chasing someone and that's being seen as romantic rather than understanding where that line is between respect."
For this message of the importance of consent to carry weight, the government is implementing a new national consent framework, which promotes a consistent, simple five-point definition of sexual consent.
Under the definition, consent must be "free and voluntary", "specific and informed," "affirmative and communicated" and "ongoing and mutual".
It must also "reflect capacity" to communicate, which could be impaired by age, intoxication and consciousness.
Federal Social Services Minister Amanda Rishworth says the framework will be provided to all federal government policies and programs specifically targeting young people, as well as being made available to other organisations across Australia.
"The research does show that not having a clear understanding of consent can really lead to misinterpretation and indeed exacerbate sexual violence."
It's estimated one in five women and one in 16 men have experienced sexual violence since the age of 15.
For women, it's most likely to take place at the hands of their current or former partner.
Ms Rishworth says the framework is a crucial tool to help reduce rates of gender-based violence.
"What we need to if we're going to turn the trend where one in five young people report an experience of sexual violence. To do that we have to start by making sure that there is clear awareness and understanding with our young people."
The framework characterises efforts to combat sexual violence as a key cultural issue for organisations and workplaces, warning male-dominated institutions in particular can support or excuse attitudes or behaviours that are supportive of violence against women.
It has been drafted in consultation with sexual violence experts and advocates, including Ms Contos, and will form the backbone of future government campaigns and respectful partner programs.
The government will be hoping to avoid the mistakes of past approaches, like the infamous MiIkshake ad commissioned by the Commonwealth in 2021 - slammed on release as confusing - which saw consent explained with the analogy of offering to share a milkshake.
Narrator: But what happens when one person takes action without an agreement?
Woman: You do huh? Well drink it! Drink it all!!
Ms Contos says the framework makes a contribution to ensuring there isn't a mismatch in consent messaging across media, which can lead to a regression in culture and the understanding of consent.
"With this sort of education, especially with the kind of older teenagers, there really shouldn't be euphemisms and metaphors and analogies, we need to be speaking explicitly and directly. So resources like this can definitely help to understand what is best to be said, how to say [these] sort of things, you know, what ages these sort of things should be said, and give people the confidence to do that."
She welcomes the framework as a way of facilitating these important conversations, and hopes that as consent and the way we learn about it moves online, it can be used to eradicate sexual violence.
"It's really incredible that consent education has remained a national priority, as it should do, because I truly believe that we can eradicate the vast majority of sexual violence with education, and going forward, I really hope there is a stronger focus on technology-facilitated abuse and lessons that are learnt from pornography, or attitudes from those sort of things, to do have those conversations and not be scared to."
If you or someone you know wants to talk about sexual assault or harassment, family or domestic violence, call 1800RESPECT on 1800 737 732 or visit www.1800RESPECT.org.au. In an emergency, call 000.
