Consent
The legal age of consent to sexual activity is 16 for both men and women.
This does not mean that because you are 16 or over you have consented to sexual activity.
The law defines consent as
‘“if subject agrees by choice, and has the freedom and capacity to make that choice”.
In practice, this means
- • Whether the person has the capacity (i.e. the age and understanding) to make a choice about whether or not to take part in the sexual activity at the time in question.
- • Whether he or she was in a position to make that choice freely, and was not constrained in any way.
There is no requirement to communicate a lack of consent. A person does not consent if they are incapacitated through drink and they do not need to be unconscious through drink to lose their capacity to consent.
(Source: Crown Prosecution Service)
Watch this short film about consent
Remember
• Consent does not have to be given verbally
• If consent is given under fear or duress, it is not consent
• If someone is unconscious, they cannot give consent
• If someone is upset or afraid, consent is presumed denied
• Consent applies each time a sexual act takes place – agreeing once does not mean continued consent
• If a person doesn’t consent to sexual activity of any kind, 100% of the blame lies with the perpetrator or perpetrators
Rape Crisis England and Wales say:
Consent looks like:
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Enthusiastically saying ‘yes!’.
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Talking to the other person about what you do and don’t want, and listening to them in return.
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Checking in with the other person – for example, asking ‘is this okay?’, ‘do you want to slow down?’ or ‘do you want to stop?’.
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Respecting someone’s choice if they say ‘no’. And never trying to change their mind or put pressure on them.