Protestors raising awareness for sexual assault survivors protest outside the courthouse in London, Ont., May 2, 2025. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Geoff Robins
If we don’t teach youth about sexual assault and consent, popular media will
As written in The Conversation by Shannon D. M. Moore, Assistant Professor and Jennifer Watt, Associate Professor, Faculty of Education.
The sexual assault trial of five former World Juniors hockey players has spotlighted issues around sexual assault and consent.
Sexual assault, intimate partner violence and other forms of gender-based violence aren’t inevitable. Kindergarten to Grade 12 public schools have an ethical obligation to enact sexuality education that is responsive to current contexts, respects human diversity, empowers young people and is rooted in human rights.
We argue for harnessing popular media to advance sexuality education. Children and youth learn about a great deal about gender, relationships, sexuality and consent from popular media.
Although there is strong theoretical rationale for using popular media to confront sexual assault, many teachers identify and experience barriers to putting this into practice in their classrooms.
Research at the University of Manitoba is partially supported by funding from the Government of Canada Research Support Fund.