In 2021, Chanel sparked a conversation with an Instagram poll. Now she's teaming up with a former PM.

This post mentions sexual assault and might be distressing for some readers.

It's been two years since Chanel Contos asked her followers a question on Instagram and sparked a national conversation about sexual assault. 

"If you live in Sydney: have you or has anyone close to you ever experienced sexual assault from someone who went to an all-boys school?" she wrote in a poll in February 2021, prompting hundreds of responses in 24 hours.

Now the 25-year-old, who has continued to work as a vocal sexual consent activist, has been chosen by former prime minister Julia Gillard to lead a youth committee for the Global Institute for Women’s Leadership (GIWL).

"It was definitely a 'pinch me' moment," the 25-year-old told Mamamia about the chance to team up with Gillard to help address gender inequality. 

"It's really exciting, and I'm feeling insanely privileged to have this opportunity."

So delighted to announce that @Chanelcontos is joining GIWL! 🎉

She'll be leading our new Global Youth Committee to help us spotlight the voices of young people and centre them in our research, advocacy & engagement 👏

➡️ https://t.co/eoNEdZEylH⁩ pic.twitter.com/qz4YAXi0gM

— Global Institute for Women's Leadership - ANU (@GIWLANU) April 26, 2023

The institute, which was founded by Gillard, works to address the causes of workplace gender inequality, the underrepresentation of women and gender diverse people in leadership positions, and the way in which the evaluation of leaders is gendered. 

As chair of the Global Youth Advisory Committee, Contos will work to identify "challenges and opportunities for different people in Australian society" and report back to GIWL to directly inform their research, advocacy and engagement.

"I'm trying to continue to bridge that gap between the experiences of young people and policymakers and large institutions," she explained. 

"I hope to achieve more synergy between the needs of young people and the work of the Global Institute for Women’s Leadership... and that it has a ripple effect in terms of policies."

Contos said the committee is particularly necessary given that a recent study by Ipsos UK and GIWL found younger generations are motivated when it comes to gender equality.

"Young people are frustrated with the way that gender equality progression is currently [going]," she explained.

"We continuously need to ensure we're making space for marginalised groups."

As well as helping to be a voice for younger people, Contos is hoping the committee will also help create a space for young people to network and receive mentoring.

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A post shared by Chanel Contos ⋆ (@chanelc)

Looking back, Chanel says she could never have imagined everything that has happened since she shared the poll on Instagram in 2021. 

"When I first posted the poll, my intention was to get my old school and nearby schools to teach consent education," she recalled.

"I did not expect [this]. It's pretty crazy to think of all the things that have happened since doing that and how easily I could have not done that on that day." 

Contos said she was already speaking to principals directly about the need for consent education, but it was a moment of "heightened emotion" that made her post the poll on Instagram and open up the conversation to her followers. 

Speaking to Mamamia in 2021, Contos explained she decided to post the poll following a conversation with a friend, who shared she was sexually assaulted by someone they both knew. 

"My friend told me of a sexual assault that happened to them when we were teens by a boy we both knew. We were also talking about another instance where I stopped a boy raping my friend," she said at the time. 

"Originally, I was going to tag the boys and call them out on my [Instagram] story and draw attention to the fact that they are ‘normal’ people who probably don’t even know they did this... Then my rational flatmate said, 'why don’t you make it more broad?' So I posted the poll."

Since then, she had continued to perpetuate the national conversation around consent, and founded the Teach Us Consent campaign, which called for mandating consent education in Australian schools – a move education ministers around the country unanimously agreed to last year. 

Looking back, Contos said it was "incredible" to hear the news of the decision. 

"It was such a relief. I couldn't even process it. [We were] working towards this one thing for so so long, there was so many things that could have made it not happen."

As Contos works to establish the committee, she encourages anyone under 30 or under, who are in the workforce, or just about to start working, to apply to be a member.

"Young people express leadership very differently to the way that older people do because we're kind of limited by the leadership we can actually show in the workforce... So if you think that you have an experience that lots of people relate to and it's been missing from the conversation, please apply."

Australia and Asia-Pacific applications for the Global Youth Advisory Committee are open from now until May 22. 

Feature Image: Instagram@chanelc