Latest news with #Contos
West Australian
26-05-2025
- Health
- West Australian
Consent education hits screens in fresh initiative
A first of its kind consent education initiative aims to meet young Australians where they're at - on social media. Teach Us Consent, the organisation founded by youth advocate Chanel Contos, has launched the Promoting Consent Initiative (PCI), which aims to teach young people about respectful relationships and prevent sexual harm. Ms Contos, 26, founded the organisation four years ago after an Instagram post went viral and alerted her to the dire need for mandated consent education in Australian schools. "Australia is really leading the way in terms of focusing on preventing sexual violence," she told AAP. "There is an important message to be shared overseas about what is happening in Australia and what lessons can be learned for other countries." The PCI has been funded by the Department of Social Services as part of the ten-year National Plan to End Gender Based Violence launched in 2022. The initiative is the first of its kind in Australia to use social media to reach young people through users they know and trust. More than 25 influential young Australians from footballers to beauty vloggers have signed up to demonstrate the importance of having vulnerable and open conversations about consent. "We wanted to make sure that young people were hearing this messaging online from people they already knew and trusted," Ms Contos said. "It was really important that the people delivering these messages were peers and also role models." The resources are available in a variety of formats including podcasts, TikToks, Instagram posts, essays and YouTube videos. They have been translated into six languages other than English and specific resources for First Nations communities are also in development. Parents and educators are being encouraged to use these resources to start conversations around respectful relationships with young people. Child sexual abuse by adolescents aged under 18 has increased in recent years, with nearly one in five Australians experiencing sexual abuse by an adolescent before they turn 18. The increased accessibility to pornography and the fact it was being used as sex education was contributing to these rates, Ms Contos said. "In recent years what has changed the most is the influence of the manosphere and algorithms," she said. "These challenges are rising quicker than we're making progress so we're going to need to be creative and innovative in terms of how we provide holistic educational resources to young people on these issues." 1800 RESPECT (1800 737 732) Lifeline 13 11 14 Men's Referral Service 1300 766 491 National Sexual Abuse and Redress Support Service 1800 211 028
Perth Now
26-05-2025
- Health
- Perth Now
Consent education hits screens in fresh initiative
A first of its kind consent education initiative aims to meet young Australians where they're at - on social media. Teach Us Consent, the organisation founded by youth advocate Chanel Contos, has launched the Promoting Consent Initiative (PCI), which aims to teach young people about respectful relationships and prevent sexual harm. Ms Contos, 26, founded the organisation four years ago after an Instagram post went viral and alerted her to the dire need for mandated consent education in Australian schools. "Australia is really leading the way in terms of focusing on preventing sexual violence," she told AAP. "There is an important message to be shared overseas about what is happening in Australia and what lessons can be learned for other countries." The PCI has been funded by the Department of Social Services as part of the ten-year National Plan to End Gender Based Violence launched in 2022. The initiative is the first of its kind in Australia to use social media to reach young people through users they know and trust. More than 25 influential young Australians from footballers to beauty vloggers have signed up to demonstrate the importance of having vulnerable and open conversations about consent. "We wanted to make sure that young people were hearing this messaging online from people they already knew and trusted," Ms Contos said. "It was really important that the people delivering these messages were peers and also role models." The resources are available in a variety of formats including podcasts, TikToks, Instagram posts, essays and YouTube videos. They have been translated into six languages other than English and specific resources for First Nations communities are also in development. Parents and educators are being encouraged to use these resources to start conversations around respectful relationships with young people. Child sexual abuse by adolescents aged under 18 has increased in recent years, with nearly one in five Australians experiencing sexual abuse by an adolescent before they turn 18. The increased accessibility to pornography and the fact it was being used as sex education was contributing to these rates, Ms Contos said. "In recent years what has changed the most is the influence of the manosphere and algorithms," she said. "These challenges are rising quicker than we're making progress so we're going to need to be creative and innovative in terms of how we provide holistic educational resources to young people on these issues." 1800 RESPECT (1800 737 732) Lifeline 13 11 14 Men's Referral Service 1300 766 491 National Sexual Abuse and Redress Support Service 1800 211 028
CBS News
01-04-2025
- CBS News
Stolen painting of President George Washington recovered in Colorado after burglary
A historic painting of George Washington is back in proper hands more than a year after an art theft in Englewood. The painting, a valuable copy on reverse glass of a well-known image painted by American artist Gilbert Stuart, was turned over to Englewood police after a tip to Crime Stoppers. "I think this painting is amazing. It's really high quality," said Englewood Police Detective Christian Contos. The painting is done on glass, explained Monica Brown, managing director of fine arts for Freeman's | Hindman, an auction and appraisal company. Brown looked up the history of the painting and explained that the original was purchased by an American captain who took it to Guangzhou, China, in 1798. There unnamed Chinese artists created about 100 copies. He brought them back in the early 1800s and sold them when interest in patriotic-themed art was strong. Only about six are known to exist today. Four are in museums, and a couple of others are in private hands. "Chinese artists used the reverse glass painting technique, with large sheets of imported European glass as the canvas," explained Brown. The front is glass and smooth. Like a mirror, if the back were scratched, it could potentially be seen through on the other side. The value could vary widely on condition and whether it had much of a story to go with it Brown explained, like it had been owned by a famous person. But art and mementos of the Founding Fathers are solid sellers. "All of those founding fathers are very marketable. They're market darlings, you could almost say," she said. She thought the value at retail could range from $60,000 to $150,000. The painting had been stolen from a storage unit in an Englewood storage facility in January of 2024. The trail had gone cold. When he started pursuing the case, Contos was in new territory. "I'll preface that by saying this was the first art theft that I've ever worked," he said. He contacted the FBI's Art Crime team for advice. There were different avenues to pursue and clues to check on. The painting was added to the database at the National Stolen Art File. Art dealers and appraisers like Brown's firm check paintings through the database to ensure art is not stolen. Contos took information from the Crime Stoppers tip in which a person mentioned two names they said were associated with the missing painting and eventually had a phone conversation with a person who said he had the missing artwork. "He said he had had it for almost a year. That at the time he was staying in a hotel and a hotel employee gave him the painting saying they found it in a room abandoned that they were cleaning." But they didn't offer a lot. "They would not tell me where the hotel was or the person who worked for the hotel gave it to him." Contos wanted it back, but the person possessing it was worried about possibly being arrested. "That type of negotiation went on for like two weeks. Back and forth. Multiple phone calls, multiple texts," said Contos. The detective said he had no reason to doubt the story he got about the discovery of the painting in a hotel. There was no arrest when the painting was turned over to the police. It adds up to Brown as well. "If you're stealing something out of a storage unit, are you really thinking that you're going to find an expensive painting?" Brown wondered. It's possible the thief did not know its value and abandoned it after realizing the trouble it might be. Stolen art is not exactly something that can be easily posted for sale on the internet. "There certain art heists where the theory is that it would then go onto the black market, but it's not something that can trade publicly," she noted. Police say, fortunately, the artwork does not appear to have significant damage other than some frame damage. The painting's owner is thrilled said Contos. But technically, the painting now belongs to an insurance company that paid the owner a claim, and what happens to it will be up to the insurance company. Back in proper hands, it is now a painting with a story. And detective Contos said he liked the idea of getting his own copy of the work to put up in his office.
