Understanding Sexual Consent: Your Complete Breakdown

Understanding consent is extremely important, and failing to get consent during sexual activity can have some serious repercussions. Our blog dives into what consent is and why it is so important. To find out more, keep on reading!



What Is Sexual Consent & Why Is It Important?

Sexual consent is the agreement between two people to participate in sexual activity. Before you engage in any kind of sexual activity with someone, it’s important to know that they want to as well.

Consenting and getting consent are all about someone’s personal boundaries, and respecting the other person’s boundaries too. Both people must agree to sex, every time, for it to be consensual.

Without consent, any kind of sexual activity can be considered sexual assault or rape.

FRIES

Consent is as easy as FRIES, which is an acronym for:

●    Freely Given - Consent should be given without pressure, any kind of manipulation, or under the influence of alcohol or drugs.

●    Reversible - The important thing about respecting someone’s boundaries, is that they are free to change their mind at any time. Even if you’ve done it before, or they have consented so far, any individual is entitled to stop the sex if they want to.

●    Informed - You can only consent if you are fully aware of what’s going on. For example, if someone says they will use a condom, and they consciously do not, that is not full consent.

●    Enthusiastic - Both parties should want to participate, and not feel pressured or expected to do anything they don’t want to.

●    Specific - Saying yes to one thing does not generalise over everything. Consent should be specific about any sexual activity, as any individual can have boundaries on what they feel comfortable doing.

Things To Remember

Consent is not reflective of past behaviour. Just because you may have done something before doesn’t mean that a person should be expected to engage in this again. Things like what an individual may be wearing, or where they are hanging out do not determine consent either.

Silence is not consent, and if you’re unsure about whether someone wants to engage in sexual activity, the best thing to do is to ask. Any question or mystery around whether someone wants to participate is not consent.

Lastly, no means no. If someone does not consent to something, that is their final word and it should not be challenged or persuaded otherwise.

Who Can Consent?

Here in the UK, there are laws about who can consent and who cannot. People who are drunk, high or under the age of 16 in the UK cannot consent to sex. Read our blog to learn more about how to give consent.

Lefevre Litigation

If you’ve been falsely accused of sexual assault, you may be looking for a defence lawyer. Here at Lefevre Litigation, we have an experienced team of criminal defence lawyers and other forms of legal representation to support your case.

For more information, contact us today.