Let’s Talk About Yes

Children & youth

Jun 13

Who: Amnesty International

What: Creating a safe and empowering environment for Norwegian youth, free from sexual assault and rape

Where: Norway

Project period: 2023

Web: Let’s talk about yes

The goal of this project is to contribute to youth being able to enjoy their life free from sexual assault and rape and to a society in which everyone understands sexual consent fully.

"Let's Talk About Yes," developed by Amnesty International, is aimed at creating a safe and empowering environment for Norwegian youth, free from sexual assault and rape. By promoting and facilitating human rights education, this project seeks to build awareness, engage high school students, and foster a culture of consent and respect. All youth in Norway should experience that the right to decide over their own body is respected and valued, however statistics show that this is often not the case. Fresh statistics from a national survey on the topic are alarming, with 1 in 5 women and girls and 1 in 14 men and boys experiencing sexual assault at least once in their lifetime. Nearly half of the females who experience rape in Norway do so before reaching the age of 18. These traumatic experiences can have severe consequences, including physical and mental health issues, social withdrawal, and disruption of education and employment.

The significance of this project lies in its potential to prevent sexual assault, allowing young individuals to pursue their dreams, develop a healthy sexuality, and feel safe. Human Rights Education(HRE) serves as the primary tool, aligning with the United Nations World Program for Human RightsEducation. 'Let's Talk About Yes' specifically focuses on the right to decide over one's own body. When meeting with youth in the classrooms the educators will facilitate a participative process which contains deliberately designed sets of learning activities using human rights knowledge, values and skills as content enabling youth to understand and develop their attitudes and behavior.

The expected results of the project include empowering high school students to reflect on their attitudes towards sexual consent, increasing their understanding of human rights, and making 'Let's Talk About Yes' accessible. School management, teachers and students alike will be familiar with “Let’s talk about yes” and can easily access our education material on various platforms. Through a broadly coordinated national outreach Amnesty will reach a total of 10 000 high school students in Norway. With funding from the Grieg Foundation it will be possible to produce high quality human rights education for face to face and digital learning. The digital version of the educational material can be reused by teachers in years to come. The project's impact will be assessed through end-of-workshop evaluations. By fostering positive transformations, this project aims to improve the lives of youth across Norway, aligning with Sustainable Development Goals 3 and 5 on health and gender.

'Let's Talk About Yes' is a crucial step towards creating safer communities and ensuring that the right to bodily autonomy is respected and valued for young individuals. By providing comprehensive human rights education and promoting consent, this project endeavors to make a lasting and positive impact, empowering youth to enjoy their lives free from sexual assault and rape.