Trigger Warning: An Aussie Campaign To Add a New Classification for “Lack of Consent” on Our Screens Has Been Launched

Youth-led not-for-profit organisation Consent Labs is hoping to expand the country’s film and television rating system by adding a new classification that will alert Aussies to content that contains lack of consent, much like they do with classifications that alert us to nudity, violence and coarse language.

Consent Labs says that while Australia has come a long way by introducing affirmative consent laws in some states, educational requirements in schools, and awareness campaigns, more work needs to be done to help Australians identify lack of consent on our screens.

“From scenes in children’s films where women are kissed while they’re asleep, to rom-coms where men are tied to a bed and their struggle is played for laughs, or scenes that are depicted as romantic, even though the person says ‘no’ again and again. These acts are designed to add dramatic effect to a scene but the visualisation without warning perpetuates and normalises lack of consent,” says Angelique Wan, CEO, co-founder and executive director of Consent Labs.

And these acts are in some of the most celebrated films. In The Empire Strikes Back , Han Solo corners Princess Leia in the bowels of the Millennium Falcon and forces himself on her for a kiss. In the “feel-good” Christmas film, Love Actually , Keira Knightley’s Juliet is stalked by her husband’s best friend. In the 2005 film Wedding Crashers , Isla Fisher’s character restrains and sexually assaults Jeremy (Vince Vaughn) for comedic affect. There are also issues of consent in Bridgeton and The Devil Wears Prada.

While scenes like Prince Phillip kissing the unconscious Princess Aurora in the Disney film Sleeping Beauty (1959) might seem benign, Consent Labs reckons flagging content with a warning will help viewers learn to recognise a lack of consent when they see it both on-screen and in real life. It will also encourage parents to have important conversations with their kids.

Research commissioned by Consent Labs found three in five Australians (57 per cent) are unable to recognise consent when they see it on screen and a quarter (26 per cent) are unable to define it.

But this doesn’t mean they want to delete or prevent depictions of lack of consent altogether. “This isn’t about cancelling or censoring any content,” Dr Joyce Yu, Consent Labs co-founder and executive director, said in a statement. It’s more about education and empowering audiences.

Their research suggests Australians are onboard. Three quarters of those surveyed believed that calling out non-consensual acts in TV shows and films would help educate viewers, and 71 per cent think classifying content that depicts a lack of consent should be a legal requirement.

The idea is that alongside warnings like “(V) Violence” and “(S) Sex Scenes”, there’s a “(C) Lack of Consent” warning. Consent Labs has launched a petition to have the Australian Classification Board introduce the new label.

The Australian Institute of Family Studies says legal definitions of consent vary between Australian states and territories, but that broadly speaking, “consent is an individual's free agreement to participate in an activity.” That definition can be ambiguous when trying to pinpoint a lack thereof, and nearly two thirds of the more than 1000 people Consent Labs interviewed said they had never been explicitly taught about consent by family, school or the media.

“Our research shows that despite Australians having the best intentions to either teach or learn about consent … we’re still seeing it being defined incorrectly,” Wan said in a statement.

Consent Labs told Broadsheet it welcomes any opportunity to work with the Classification Board to look at nuanced ways to grade lack of consent depicted on screen and what that grading system would look like should their campaign be successful.

For more info see here. The (C) for Consent petition is open until October 27.