Australia’s consent revolution is here, and a new SBS series, Asking For It, is highlighting those at the forefront of cultural change in this country.
Over the course of three episodes, investigative journalist Jess Hill meets with those insisting on quality consent education as well as prominent victim-survivors who’ve spoken out about their experiences navigating the legal system, fighting for law reform and dealing with trauma.
“It’s never a bad thing to talk about consent and sexual violence in Australia,” says victim-survivor and advocate Saxon Mullins, speaking with Women’s Agenda at the premiere in Sydney.
“As much as we talk about consent and it seems like it’s in all of these news articles all the time, there are still people in Australia who don’t understand why it’s important and don’t understand the gravity of what’s going on.”
Director of Advocacy at Rape and Sexual Assault Research and Advocacy, Mullins is one of the brave women to share her story in the series.
Despite the mental toll that can come from re-telling a story of trauma, Mullins continues to advocate for sexual assault victim-survivors. In 2021, NSW passed the Affirmative Consent Bill and Mullins played a big role in moving this landmark law reform forwards.
“I think whenever you have any win of any gravity, whether it’s small, whether it’s big, there does seem to be a bit of a stall in movement,” says Mullins. “People think ‘yay we did it’ and then it’s done. I’ve always said that law changes are such a small part of a much larger conversation.”
“Hopefully the conversation is evolving, but of course, I would like to see it go a little bit quicker.”
With the upcoming release of Asking For It, Mullins says she hopes the series reaches those who “don’t even put a second thought towards consent”.
She wants the conversations in the documentary to act as a springboard for people to “deepen their understanding of consent even beyond Asking For It. To have this idea of ‘I can’t be silent’.”
Emphasising the need for this kind of public thought process, Hill said at the series premiere that Australia is ready to have a conversation around consent, and that for the first time, we’re listening to the stories of victim survivors framed in the way that’s most important to them.
“You could land a series like this 10 years ago, and it would just be so shocking that people wouldn’t know what to do with it.”
But Hill said that it’s because of the bravery from victim-survivors who chose to share their stories despite the risk that the next generation of children “will grow up in a country where consent is a regular conversation.”
Along with Mullins’ story, the series shows Hill speaking with other prominent victim survivors like Grace Tame, Noelle Martin and Adele (Delsi) Moleta.
The series also gives insight into the importance of quality consent education from Lauren French, a Karajarri woman, sexologist and Head of Education with Body Safety Australia.
French fosters safe spaces for young people to receive consent and sexuality education, saying “I think young people are not only open to this work but that what we’ve seen in the past few years is they’re loudly asserting, not just the ‘want’ for consent education but the ‘need’.
Mullins makes note of how important this kind of early education from French is to the consent conversation, saying she hopes that parents who watch the series leave feeling less frightened of what this education looks like because “what it looks like is age appropriate”.
Asking For It is releasing on Thursday, and while the content is both moving and powerful, director, writer and series producer, Tosca Looby, said she’s very conscious that the stories could be triggering to anyone, including victim-survivors. For this reason, there will be content warnings before and after the film, as well as numbers people can call and get support.
Speaking to what she hopes people will take away from the show, Looby said she wants Asking For It to be the next bit of momentum in an already ongoing conversation around consent.
She wants people to “have more conversations, feel that they can tell their stories and get more support. Not just from organisations but from friends and family who aren’t going to throw out those questions that have been thrown out so much in the past– ‘What were you doing there? Why did you drink so much? Maybe you shouldn’t have gone home with him…’”.
If you or someone you know needs support, please call 1800RESPECT on 1800 737 732 or visit 1800RESPECT.org.au. You can also contact Lifeline on 13 11 14 or visit lifeline.org.au. In an emergency, call 000.