Sex education must be improved - petition to Parliament

The petition will be presented to Labour MP Grant Robertson in Parliament grounds tomorrow.

Community outrage against "rape culture" returns to Parliament tomorrow, with the presentation by two schoolgirls of a petition calling for better sex education in schools.

Wellington High School pupils Lauren Jack and Ruby Medlicott, both 17, and fellow students will present the petition, signed by more than 5000 people, to Labour MP Grant Robertson in the grounds of Parliament early tomorrow afternoon.

The petition arose from a rape-culture protest outside Parliament in March which in turn arose from comments posted online by Wellington College students joking about taking advantage of drunk or unconscious women.

"If you don't take advantage of a drunk girl, you're not a true WC [Wellington College] boy," one of the comments read. Another comment said "f*** women".

Wellington College disciplined two boys over the incidents.

Jack told the Herald today, "We started the petition following the protest outside Parliament against rape culture. We thought that one really good way to address the issue is to have good sex education in schools - compulsory and covering consent and healthy relationships, with LBGTQI inclusion."

LBGTQI refers to those who identify as lesbian, bisexual, gay, transgender, queer/questioning, or intersex.

"The problem at the moment is that [sex education] is not consistent throughout schools," Jack said. "Some schools will teach things about reproductive organs but not consent. Some will teach it without LBGTQI inclusion.

"Many of us teenagers, still in high school, have experienced sexual harassment, sometimes within school environments. According to the stats, one in three girls experience sexual assault before the age of 16. The same goes for one in seven boys.

"We're scared, we assume that this will be a part of our lives, and it doesn't come as a surprise when we're catcalled or people make jokes about rape. We don't want to live in a world where rape culture is normal any more.

"Every New Zealand teenager should be given the tools, education and knowledge to better understand the concept of consent in healthy relationships."