It was an absolute pleasure to be involved in the groundbreaking new series The Role Of A Lifetime, on the ABC Australia.

This series is a fantastic way to explore parenting challenges in the 21st century. Here’s a short preview of episode 4 which explores relationships, sexuality and the impacts of porn on young people. You can now watch the full episode for free on ABC iview. Well done to all involved!

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.

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.

We’ve noticed a huge shift in the ways young people speak about sexual strangulation. It used to only come up rarely in our interviews with young people, whereas now it is often talked about as a ‘normal’ or ‘vanilla’ sexual practice - and something they ‘expect’ will happen.

Young people deserve better than to have their sexual experiences and expectations shaped by the pornography industry.

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 emphasizes that there is “no safe way to strangle.”

This is a message that young people need to hear as a matter of urgency.

Professor Heather Douglas, from the University of Melbourne’s Law School, 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.

Maree Crabbe was recently interviewed for an episode of The Sexual Violence Research Podcast with the wonderful Jennifer Johnson from Virginia Tech’s Department of Sociology to explore the disturbing connections between pornography consumption and rising rates of sexual violence against women and girls.

Together with our fabulous podcast hosts, we also discussed what educators, policymakers, and parents can do to address the damaging influence of this multi-billion dollar industry. Thanks to Sexual Violence Research Initiative (SVRI) for having us and tackling this important issue. Listen here.

We’ve been developing the Breathless campaign for a couple of years now and over that time we’ve spoken with a lot of young people about sexual strangulation, and also with researchers and medical experts.

The resounding message from young people was that strangulation (which they often refer to as ‘choking’) is now considered a normal and expected part of their sexual experiences, and something many believed can be done safely. While most young people are aware of the risk of death, many are not aware of the many other risks associated with applying pressure to someone’s neck.

Most young people (61%) learn about strangulation through pornography. This raises questions about having a multibillion-dollar industry shaping our sexual experiences in ways that puts young peoples’ lives at risk.

Young people deserve to have accurate information from trustworthy sources to counter the information they’re getting from porn and from other unqualified or unregulated sources, such as social media.

In this short excerpt from our interview with brain trauma researcher Associate Professor Kei Kawata, he explains that the harms from sexual strangulation can be both invisible and significant.

Sexual strangulation is a practice that risks the life and the health of one partner – and, in heterosexual contexts, is overwhelmingly done to women by men.

Many young people report assuming that sexual strangulation will be pleasurable because it ‘looks that way’ in the pornography they’ve seen. But if this practice is genuinely about pleasure, why is it overwhelmingly women being strangled and men doing the strangling?

Violence against women is a global public health crisis. And strangulation is used by violent partners to instil fear, assert control and silence their victims, and sometimes to kill them. We can’t lose sight of that reality when we’re talking about this shift in cultural norms.

Strangulation - often referred to as ‘choking’ - has become a part of the sexual script for many young people, and they are often unaware of many of the serious risks and harms for those who experience it.

There is a whole range of information available online about sexual strangulation. Unfortunately, most of this content isn’t developed by people who understand the risks of engaging in the practice.

One of the aims of the Breathless campaign, by It’s time we talked, is to make it easier for young people to access information from more reputable and trustworthy sources. Check out the FAQ page on our website with information and videos from our interviews with strangulation experts.

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.

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.

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.

Strangulation has become a normalised sexual practice among young Australians (and around the world).

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 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.

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.

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”.

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.

Thank you ABC News for broadcasting this issue and raising awareness about the dangers of sexual strangulation.