Recently, a statistic has been released that acknowledges that 97% of women experience sexual harassment from men. Statistically men, women, and gender non conforming individuals are more likely to experience assault or violent crime from a man or male presenting person.  . The issue of sexual assault and harassment needs to be addressed and the best way to accomplish that is to teach everyone at a young age. We need to start educating the youth about sexual harassment and why it is a problem rather than just teaching people how to defend themselves against sexual harassment. In Ontario schools they do teach consent, however it is possible for parents to opt their children out of learning it, as it is taught as part of the sexual education course. Schools do not teach the difference between rape, sexual assault and sexual harassment or what qualifies as sexual harassment. This subconsciously encourages victim blaming as well as harassment because kids are never taught why these things occur and tend to blame the victim instead of holding the abuser accountable for their actions. We also need to teach young people the difference between a good touch and a bad touch. All these things need to be taught as well as made mandatory in order to protect men and women all over. I personally have experienced sexual harassment and can not name a single female friend who has not, and I am only 17. I am aware that the reason it is not mandatory is due to religion but this is why I believe that consent should be taught separately from sex ed. If it is your belief and you do not want your child to learn about sexual interactions that is completely fine, however consent applies to everyone no matter the religion. Now the question of how do you teach consent with out sexual interactions may arise. The answer is simple, start with may I hold your hand or may I hug you and then teach the youth how that applies to every situation wether sexual or not.