8 August 2017

For immediate release

The National Council of Women supports Wellington High School students calling for compulsory consent education

The National Council of Women is 100% behind Wellington High School students calling for better consent education in all New Zealand schools.

Lauren Jack and Ruby Medlicott will today at 12.40pm be delivering their 6,000 signature strong petition, calling for compulsory consent education, to Parliament.

Rape culture in New Zealand is both prevalent and horrific – and the National Council of Women Vice President Vanisa Dhiru says that this petition is an important step to changing attitudes towards rape culture in New Zealand.

“Best practice consent – and healthy relationships – education is the best tool we have to reduce the perpetration of sexual violence” says Vanisa. “I’m not talking about one-off random sessions in assembly – no matter how inspirational the speaker might be – I’m talking about skills-based activities which allow students to build on the consent skills they already have and practice them in various situations.”

“We need to bring consent to life for high school students” says Vanisa “and Mates and Dates in all New Zealand high schools would ensure this education wasn’t a lottery – as it is now."

With sexual violence being the most expensive crime in New Zealand, Lauren and Ruby argue that making consent a compulsory part of the curriculum, as well as teaching healthy relationships with LGBTQI+ inclusion, would stop people starting on a path of poor sexual behaviour.

To achieve this, they suggest that Mates and Dates, a healthy relationships course for secondary school students, is introduced into all high schools in New Zealand.

The National Council of Women will support the petition as it is submitted to Parliament.

Sign the petition here https://our.actionstation.org.nz/petitions/better-sex-education-in-schools

ENDS

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