Join Australian activist, and MPP alumna (2025), Chanel Contos in conversation with Philippa Webb, Professor of Public International Law, to discuss her new book Consent Laid Bare.

In an era of growing equality on many fronts, Contos argues that when it comes to sex, we are all still working with an outdated social contract that privileges men's pleasure at the expense of humanity.

In Consent Laid Bare, Chanel challenges the rampant inequality that reinforces violent behavior and questions whether consent is possible in a world where female sexuality has been hijacked and suppressed by influences such as porn, patriarchy and male entitlement. It offers girls and women encouragement to see the forces that influence us all as they seek the source of their ‘desires’.

Chanel's message of fostering empathy is especially urgent in the face of rising rates of toxic messages about masculinity and manhood that are targeting our young men.

The event is followed by a drinks reception.

Chanel Contos is an award-winning activist who founded Teach Us Consent, a campaign that mandated consent education in all Australian schools and criminalised stealthing in multiple states. Chanel has a Master's in Education, Gender and International Development from University College London and a Master’s in Public Policy from Oxford University. She was appointed by former Prime Minister Julia Gillard to chair the Global Institute for Women’s Leadership’s Youth Advisory Committee. In 2022, Chanel was named by the BBC as one of 100 Inspiring and Influential women worldwide, and she’s received a Human Rights Medal in Australia for her humanitarian work.

Philippa Webb is Professor of Public International Law at the Blavatnik School of Government. She is Co-founder and Director of the Oxford Institute of Technology and Justice, which is as part of its work developing AI-driven tools to expand access to justice to women and girls.