There are lots of situations where consent is needed. In fact, you’re probably already asking for and giving your consent quite naturally in many areas of life.

Think of when you ask to borrow something from a friend, or ask to give them a hug. Or when you’re organising a date and you ask the other person what they’d like to eat, or what type of movie they want to watch. In all of these scenarios, you’re negotiating consent.

Sometimes we might not recognise consent for what it is because we don’t always say things like “Can I please have your consent?” or “Yes, I give my consent to that!”.

But what people might not be so familiar with though, is how consent works when it comes to sex.

Consenting to sexual activity is super important. It means that a person knows what they are doing, that they want to do it and that they can stop at any time. Sex always requires consent because without it, it’s sexual violence, and this is never okay.