With around 85 sexual assaults reported every day in Australia and an estimated 90 per cent of sexual assaults going unreported, the topic of consent is critical, national conversation to be had.
Tackling this subject is SBS’ new landmark documentary series, Asking For It, hosted by investigative journalist Jess Hill.
“In this series, I want to explore why we ignore consent and why we don’t believe people when they say they’ve been raped,” says Hill in the series’ trailer.
“We need to talk about sex, consent and power.”
Asking For It will look into the epidemic of sexual violence impacting millions of Australians in schools, universities, aged care and various other institutions.
Over three episodes, the series will tackle the question: how can we change our rape culture into consent culture?
“I hope this series really gets people thinking about their own life experiences, and pumps new energy into the national movement to end rape culture,” says Hill.
Throughout the series, Hill speaks to a range of experts, community groups and consent educators who are driving change across Australia. She learns why advocates are insisting on quality consent education embedded in the national curriculum and meets with prominent victim survivors leading Australia’s consent revolution, including Grace Tame, Noelle Martin, Saxon Mullins and Adele (delsi) Moleta.
“The last sexual revolution liberated us from abstinence culture – thankfully – but it turns out that true sexual freedom is still only for some,” Hill says. “As #MeToo has shown, ‘sexual freedom’ can be expressed at great cost to those who’ve had sex they didn’t want.”
Hill also consults the work being done to educate male youth by sex and consent educator Richi Hardcore as well as Reset Australia, who are tackling emerging digital threats.
And looking even further into the pioneering work being done, Hill visits a consent friendly LGBTQIA+ and shows viewers the testing bespoke care centres and courts in South Africa that are creating space of care and justice for victim survivors.
“The consent revolution is the next evolutionary step towards a truly liberated sexuality where everyone involved can expect to feel pleasure,” says Hill.
Director of the series, Tosca Looby says “there’s nothing simple about consent– but we’ve worked hard to take the audience on a carefully crafted journey through the wilds of this issue that’s so fundamental and so misunderstood.”
As the anticipated follow-up series to SBS’ critically acclaimed See What You Made Me Do, the new series will premiere on Thursday 20 April at 8.30pm.