Why consent education isn't enough | Katrina Marson | TEDxBrisbane

As a sexual offences prosecutor, Katrina Marson spent a decade seeing the aftermath of sexual violence cross her desk - case after case after case.

Feeling frustrated by the limits of the criminal justice system, in 2019, Katrina decided to focus on sexual violence prevention, embarking on a global journey to meet some leading experts in this field. Her research confirmed her suspicions that sex education focusing on consent education and violence prevention is inadequate and misguided, however well-intentioned, and that comprehensive relationship and sexuality education is a human right for all young people. Katrina Marson practiced as a criminal lawyer for a decade, particularly in family violence and sexual offences. She has been researching the protective power of sex-ed to prevent sexual violence and safeguard sexual wellbeing since 2012.

On a two-year secondment, she led the implementation of the Child Sexual Abuse Royal Commission’s criminal justice recommendations in the Australia Capital Territory (ACT) before returning to the ACT Director of Public Prosecutions as a senior prosecutor in the Sexual Offences Unit. Katrina undertook a Churchill Fellowship in 2019 to research the implementation of relationships and sexuality education overseas; her findings were published in the report, ‘Ignorance is not Innocence’.

She is the lead researcher of primary prevention at Rape and Sexual Assault Research and Advocacy, and is completing a PhD in human rights and sex education. Her first book, ‘Legitimate Sexpectations: the power of sex-ed’, was published in 2022. This talk was given at a TEDx event using the TED conference format but independently organized by a local community. Learn more at https://www.ted.com/tedx