Queenslanders urged to show support and raise awareness for Sexual Violence Awareness Month
October is Sexual Violence Awareness Month (SVAM), a month-long campaign sending a clear message: sexual violence has no place in Queensland.
The community awareness initiative aims to educate people about sexual violence and provide vital resources, while also highlighting support options available for survivors – to ensure every Queenslander can live free from fear and threats of violence.
Sexual violence includes any unwanted sexual behavior, from harassment to assault – including rape – and it can happen to anyone. However, women and girls make up the majority of victims – representing 84 per cent of reported victims of sexual assault in Australia in 2023.
In addition to support, the campaign raises awareness - highlighting that a significant majority of assaults aren’t perpetrated by strangers, but can be a person known to victims, and these can often happen at home.
Under Prevent. Support. Believe Queensland’s framework to address sexual violence, the state continues its journey toward eradicating sexual violence through large-scale reform based on the recommendations of the Women’s Safety and Justice Taskforce.
This includes ongoing work by Queensland Government agencies in partnership with the domestic, family and sexual violence prevention sector.
In September, the Queensland Government’s modernised sexual consent laws took effect, introducing changes designed to offer greater protection for victim-survivors of sexual offences.
These changes adopt an affirmative model of consent, which requires clear, voluntary agreement to engage in sexual activity, with explicit communication between participants without pressure.
The reforms also recognise stealthing, the non-consensual removal or tampering with a condom during sex – as an act of non-consent and categorise it as rape.
To raise further awareness among young adults and members of the community, the Only 100% is consent campaign is currently running across television, streaming services and promotional adverts in Queensland. Campaign resources seek to demonstrate healthy and positive sexual experiences while educating about offences and the law.
Find more information on the updates to sexual violence and consent laws at www.qld.gov.au/consent.
Queenslanders are encouraged to attend a public event during SVAM and play a part in ending sexual violence. For a calendar of events and promotional resources visit: www.qld.gov/svamonth.
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