Sexual consent workshops are being conducted in 80% of the universities in the UK. Workshops help students get educated on the topic of sexual harassment.
Harassment in universities
Universities in the UK has strengthened the campaign against sexual harassment in different campuses. Major universities like Oxford, Durhan, and Edinburgh even started their sexual consent workshops on students as early as their freshmen year.
The sexual consent workshop teaches students the difference between a forced and consensual sexual experience. It educates students when to say no and to determine when the experience is consensual or not.
Universities received tons of criticism for the rise of sexual harassment cases for the past two years. But school officials believe that this rise is the effect of student awareness on sexual assault issues. More students are coming out of the shadows because of the campaign on campus harassments.
Changing the Culture, also added that harassment issues should not be limited to sexual assaults, a lot of issues can contribute to campus harassment cases like racism, hate incidents, and gender discrimination. Universities should be more strict on implementing zero tolerance in campus harassments regardless if it’s sexual, hate cases, or gender issues.
How to define sexual consent?
Here are some common facts about sexual consent issues:
- Silence does not mean yes. The passivity of a victim does not give the aggressor consent.
- Consent can be spoken and expressed in action. If a couple is confident enough to engage in sexual activity, then communication for consent is a must.
- Allowing one thing does not entitle you to go further. Observe limitations. Sexual consent does not allow a person not to use protection if the partner prefers using protection.
- Rape is defined as penetration with a penis. But any other forms of penetration aside from the male genitalia is considered as sexual harassment. Both rape and sexual harassment have the same severity of legal liability.
- Victim blaming. No matter how a person dresses, acts or gets intoxicated it does not permit anyone to sexual assault him/her. Rape is always the fault of the attacker.
- Only 12% of rape cases are by strangers, 88% of rape and sexual assault cases involve someone related, a friend, a colleague, an ex-partner to the victim.
- Just 5% of rape perpetrators are mentally ill. Only a few convicted sexual felons are referred for psychiatric treatment.
- Rape is not a fetish. Bondage, sadism and other sexual fetishes must not be forced. Sexual consent should always be present.
