The laws about consent vary by state and situation. It can make the topic confusing, but you don’t have to be a legal expert to understand how consent plays out in real life.
What is consent?
Consent is an agreement between participants to engage in sexual activity. There are many ways to give consent, and some of those are discussed below. Consent doesn’t have to be verbal, but verbally agreeing to different sexual activities can help both you and your partner respect each other’s boundaries.
How does consent work in real life?
When you’re engaging in sexual activity, consent is about communication. And it should happen every time. Giving consent for one activity, one time, does not mean giving consent for increased or recurring sexual contact. For example, agreeing to kiss someone doesn’t give that person permission to remove your clothes. Having sex with someone in the past doesn’t give that person permission to have sex with you again in the future.
You can change your mind at any time.
You can withdraw consent at any point if you feel uncomfortable. It’s important to clearly communicate to your partner that you are no longer comfortable with this activity and wish to stop. The best way to ensure both parties are comfortable with any sexual activity is to talk about it.
Positive consent can look like this:
· Communicating when you change the type or degree of sexual activity with phrases like “Is this OK?”
· Explicitly agreeing to certain activities, either by saying “yes” or another affirmative statement, like “I’m open to trying.”
· Using physical cues to let the other person know you’re comfortable taking things to the next level
It does NOT look like this:
· Refusing to acknowledge “no”
· Assuming that wearing certain clothes, flirting, or kissing is an invitation for anything more
· Someone being under the legal age of consent, as defined by the state
· Someone being incapacitated because of drugs or alcohol
· Pressuring someone into sexual activity by using fear or intimidation
· Assuming you have permission to engage in a sexual act because you’ve done it in the past
If you’ve experienced sexual assault, you’re not alone. To speak with someone who is trained to help, call the National Sexual Assault Hotline at 800.656.HOPE (4673) or chat online at online.rainn.org.