The Breathless campaign has developed and published a series of shareable resources across our social media channels.
A selection of informative video and graphic resources are available below. Please feel free to share this page with anyone who may find this content useful.
Breathless campaign launch
We are delighted to be launching the Breathless campaign and website alongside the release of ground-breaking new research by Melbourne University and The University of Queensland yesterday.
A huge thank you to the incredible young people who shared their experiences with us so other young people can hear that there is no safe way to strangle.
New research: Rates of sexual strangulation among young Australians
New research with 4,702 young Australians has confirmed what young people have been telling us for years: strangulation has become a part of the sexual script for many young people, and most are unaware of the serious risks and harms for those who experience it.
The research, by Melbourne University and The University Of Queensland, found that over half of young Australians have been strangled during sex and half have strangled a partner.
Young people need to hear that sexual strangulation is not something you can do safely. They need support to think critically about the influences – such as porn, social media and their partners and peers – that are shaping their sexual norms.
We also need to make it easier for them to access information from more reputable and trustworthy sources. And we need to help them imagine and experience a sexuality that is safe, respectful, mutually pleasurable and fully consenting.
The Breathless campaign, by It’s time we talked, will seek to prevent the harms of strangulation by raising awareness of the dangers and supporting critical thinking among young people.
Strangulation and intimate partner violence
We can’t ignore the disturbing intersection between the increase in strangulation as a sexual practice, and strangulation perpetrated as part of intimate partner violence.
A practice commonly portrayed as sexy and ‘adventurous’ or ‘liberated’ in porn, social media and some other popular culture contexts is regularly used to intimidate, exert power and control over, and instil fear in intimate partner violence.
Porn has normalised and eroticised gendered aggression. It may be uncomfortable, but we need to talk about the normalisation of rough sex and strangulation, and grapple with how these gendered experiences mirror - and contribute to - the epidemic of gender-based violence.
Strangulation as a normalised sexual practice among young Australians
Strangulation has become a normalised sexual practice among young Australians (and around the world).
The young people we’ve interviewed have described the practice as something they ‘expect’ to happen, often with no communication or consent, and that there’s a common assumption that it can be done safely.
In a recent Melbourne University and The University Of Queensland study with 4,702 young Australians, over half (57%) of those surveyed reported being strangled by a partner during sex, and about half (51%) said they had strangled their partner during sex.
The Breathless campaign will seek to prevent the impacts of strangulation by raising awareness about the harms of sexual strangulation and supporting critical thinking about the cultural influences that promote and normalise it.
A huge thank you to the incredible young people who shared their reflections on this issue with us so other young people can hear that there is no safe way to strangle.
Young people share their views on sexual strangulation
New research with 4,702 young Australians has confirmed what young people have been telling us for years: strangulation has become a part of the sexual script for many young people, and most are unaware of the serious risks and harms for those who experience it.
Young people need to hear that sexual strangulation is not something you can do safely. They need support to think critically about the influences – such as porn, social media and their partners and peers – that are shaping their sexual norms.
We also need to make it easier for them to access information from more reputable and trustworthy sources. And we need to help them imagine and live into a sexuality that is safe, respectful, mutually pleasurable and fully consenting.
The Breathless campaign, by It’s time we talked, will seek to prevent the harms of strangulation by raising awareness of the dangers and supporting critical thinking among young people.
Young people are learning from pornography
Young Australians are learning about sexual strangulation from pornography, partners, peers, social media and mainstream popular culture.
These powerful influences are shaping the sexual expectations and experiences of a generation of young people, according to research recently released by Melbourne University and The University of Queensland.
The survey of 4,702 young Australians revealed that 61% were exposed to depictions of strangulation during sex via pornography.
Many young people we have spoken with assume that strangulation will be pleasurable and safe – perhaps because it looks that way in porn or they know people who have done it and claim it is safe.
But strangulation experts advise that there is no safe way to strangle – and the consequences are not just at the point of strangulation, but may occur in the minutes, hours, days, weeks and months that follow.
A huge thank you to the incredible young people who shared their reflections on this issue with us so other young people can hear that there is no safe way to strangle.
There is no safe way to strangle
Many young people we have spoken with assume that strangulation will be pleasurable and safe – perhaps because it looks that way in porn or they know people who have done it and claim it is safe.
But strangulation experts advise that there is no safe way to strangle – and the consequences are not just at the point of strangulation, but may occur in the minutes, hours, days, weeks and months that follow. There is a wide range of risks involved in strangulation (not just death), and the consequences are cumulative.
Drawing on her extensive knowledge of the mechanics and physiology of strangulation, forensic medical examiner Dr Jane Van Diemen emphasises that there is “no safe way to strangle”.
This is a message that young people need to hear as a matter of urgency.
Many young Australians are unaware of the risks and dangers of sexual strangulation
Professor Heather Douglas from University of Melbourne said many young Australians are consenting to strangulation during sex without realising the serious injuries that can come from it.
According to medical experts, it can take just 10 seconds of strangulation for a person to lose consciousness, 30 seconds to lose bowel control and 150 seconds to cause death. There is no safe way to strangle.
The dangers of sexual strangulation - ABC News
Thank you ABC News for broadcasting this issue and raising awareness about the dangers of sexual strangulation.