Chanel Contos is a 26-year-old from Sydney who is the founder of Teach Us Consent, a grassroots campaign that exposed the prevalence of sexual violence in students, and advocated for consent education to prevent this. In 2021 Chanel’s petition gained over 45,000 signatures, and 7000 young people submitted testimonies to teachusconsent.com. This inspired similar action in the UK. After a year of campaigning, Chanel presented to the Ministers of Education, where they unanimously agreed to mandate consent education, every year, from Kindergarden-10. Chanel has also successfully campaigned to criminalise stealthing in two Australian states.
Chanel believes the vast majority of sexual violence is preventable through education. Her advocacy is defined by her ability to convene policy makers, experts and youth. Chanel’s advocacy has driven millions in Government funding to the sector, and recently her grassroots organisation was granted $3.5 million to continue their youth-led work.
Chanel has a Masters in Gender, Education, and International Development from UCL, and she is the author of Consent Laid Bare.
She has been awarded:
- Australian Human Rights Commissions Young People’s Medal 2021
- BBC World’s 100 Influential and Inspiring Women 2022
- Diana Award 2022
- NSW Young Woman of the Year 2023