The founders of Let’s Talk Consent, a social enterprise designed to catalyse change in the area of sexual harm, are sharing their project at a youth forum in Milan this week.
University of Auckland students, Jasmine Gray, Laura Porteous, and recent graduate Genna Hawkins-Boulton will share their mahi around consent education and compete in the inaugural Sustainability Impact Forum, hosted by the United Nations Sustainable Development Solutions Network.
The Let’s Talk Consent team will present their social enterprise to more than 400 other youth leaders and international organisations. They also have the opportunity to attend workshops and conferences related to sustainability, management, planning and strategic development for global change.
“It will be amazing to connect with global leaders and youth networks,” says Laura.
“We’re looking forward to inspiring other young people to look at their education systems around consent, to identify what can be improved and to push for it.”
Genna, who recently graduated with a Bachelor of Arts (Honours), Jasmine who is in her final year of a conjoint Bachelor of Arts and Global Studies and Laura, who is also in the last year of a conjoint degree in Global Studies and Commerce, created Let’s Talk Consent as a way to catalyse change in the area of sexual harm by utilising their combined passions for social advocacy, filmmaking, media and communications.
This June marks one year since Genna started a campaign to make consent education in schools compulsory. As part of her efforts, Genna, a survivor of sexual assault, collected approximately 300 anonymous testimonies from young people around the country concerning their experiences of sexual harm and education.
“From those testimonies, and the advocacy work I was doing, I realised there was a gap in the market for an organisation that connects and brings awareness to youth, policymakers, teachers and politicians, and that’s how the idea for Let’s Talk Consent came about,” she said.
