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Episode 005 · Sexual Assault

Un-Assault-ed Truth

Consent, coercion and the myth of the stranger — what actually counts, from the woman who changed the law

In this episode

This one is honest, and some of it is hard. If today's not the day, that's okay — it will still be here when you are.

Chanel Contos posted one question on Instagram at 22. It came back with more than 7,000 testimonies, changed the national curriculum, and drove consent law reform across the country. The founder of Teach Us Consent sits with Maddie for the conversation every other conversation has been building to: why the danger was never the stranger, what sexual coercion actually is — being pressured, tricked, threatened or blackmailed — and why she didn't learn that word herself until her master's degree. What algorithms feed boys within 23 minutes of signing up. The truth about "blue balls". Stealthing, and why WA is the last state yet to name it in law.

And underneath all of it, one line worth keeping: sexual assault happens when entitlement to another person's body outweighs empathy for them. Consent comes from the Latin for "feeling together". That's the standard. Ask for nothing less.

Chapters

The girls asked

A boy at school keeps asking me to send pictures and won't stop even after I say no. Is that actual harassment or am I overreacting?
Sometimes I laugh along when guys say gross stuff because it's easier than making it weird. Does that make it my fault?
What would you say to my parents who think all these conversations are too much for me? I'm 13.

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