Zoe Moffatt
When Woodend born and raised podcast host Laura Crozier is asked what her hopes and dreams are for every young girl growing up her answer is simple and thoughtful.
“I want them to be educated… and empowered,” she said.
“I want them to be educated on consent and what it is, and I want them to be educated and empowered on how to say no.”
This answer is one born from the depths of Laura’s own experience becoming a victim survivor of sexual assault at 15-years-old.
“I was scared and afraid and I wanted help,” she said.
“I often just remember how I felt in those months following my assault and just wanting someone to guide me in the right direction, and wanting there to be a conversation and not feel ashamed about that conversation.”
This experience was the catalyst for a series of events, starting with a video to help victim survivors of sexual assault, followed by the beginning of the Growing Up Clueless podcast.
“We were lucky enough to receive some funding and my friend and co-host Miranda and I were just really keen to continue the discussion around sexual health and consent.”
Laura said while there have been a lot of big steps forward in the world of consent education, there aren’t enough resources and ongoing support.
“I think there needs to be more support and professional development for teachers because I think maybe we underestimate how of a subject it is to talk about and discuss with young people.
“I don’t think mandating it is enough, I think there’s still so much disparity between the level of consent education that’s delivered from metro and regional and rural areas.
“That’s something that needs to be looked at as well, whether it’s that there’s more access for training and development in metro areas for the people teaching that content, I don’t know.
“There’s a lot of things to think about. If you go into a rural area, you’ll see and you’ll hear that teachers and schools don’t feel equipped to deliver that education and that it falls short.”
Laura and co-host Miranda Johnson-Jones will both be on the Macedon Ranges panel for its International Women’s Day event on March 8.
As they have both now moved away from the Macedon Ranges, Laura said it was a nice full circle moment to get the opportunity to speak to the community where their podcast first started.
Details: shorturl.at/beiqE
