Students have slammed a mandatory sexual harassment course telling them they cannot kiss or touch without an ‘enthusiastic yes’.
All commencing students at the University of Sydney must take the module, originally developed at Oxford University by London-based company Epigeum.
The university’s website says the course is to help students understand consensual sexual activity, which it defines as including kissing and touching.
Students have slammed a mandatory sexual harassment course telling them they cannot kiss or touch without an ‘enthusiastic yes’ (pictured is an image from the course)
All commencing students at the University of Sydney must take the module, originally developed at Oxford University by London-based company Epigeum (pictured is an image from the course)
‘It is the university’s way of saying, “we’ve done our part, we look good”, but it’s not actually going to fix anything,’ honours student Claudia Reed told the Daily Telegraph.
Medical Science student Eleni Vellios said asking explicitly for an ‘enthusiastic “yes”‘ before kissing someone was silly and impractical.
‘It’s a bit unrealistic, no one is going to ask for them to spell it out and ask for it,’ she said.
Ms Reed agreed, saying they course will not help or change the minds of anyone who needs to be taught what consent is.
The university’s website (pictured) says the course is to help students understand consensual sexual activity, which it defines as including kissing and touching
A university spokesperson confirmed that students would be forced to keep attempting the course until they got every section correct (pictured is an image from the course)
The compulsory survey was a ‘tick-a-box exercise’, she added and said the university should be more focused on fixing the problems within its residential colleges.
The University of Sydney states: ‘Whenever you participate in any sexual activity, everyone involved needs to give their full consent.
‘This means that everyone is entirely comfortable with the situation and freely able to agree, give permission or say “yes” to participating in a sexual activity (this includes kissing and touching).
‘Sexual activity without consent is sexual assault and is always a crime.’
‘Consent is never ambiguous. If someone is not able to offer an enthusiastic “yes” to questions about sexual activity you do not have consent.’
‘The Consent Matters module is mandatory for all new students enrolling at the University of Sydney from 2018 onwards,’ said a university spokesperson (pictured is an image from the course)
‘Consent Matters: Boundaries, Respect, And Positive Intervention’ uses stick figures to illustrate the importance of consent and the impact that drugs and alcohol have on consent.
The course states that ‘everyone must have explicit permission from the person they intend to make contact with’ before going ahead.
A university spokesperson confirmed that students would be forced to keep attempting the course until they got every section correct.
‘The Consent Matters module is mandatory for all new students enrolling at the University of Sydney from 2018 onwards,’ she said.
Students at Sydney University have slammed the new mandatory sexual harassment course (stock image)