What Is Consent?

Consent: (As taken from Antioch College's Sexual Assault Policy)

Consent is defined as the act of willingly and verbally agreeing to engage in specific sexual conduct. The following are clarifying points:
■Consent is required each and every time there is sexual activity.
■All parties must have a clear and accurate understanding of the sexual activity.
■The person(s) who initiate(s) the sexual activity is responsible for asking for consent.
■The person(s) who are asked are responsible for verbally responding.
■Each new level of sexual activity requires consent.
■Use of agreed upon forms of communication such as gestures or safe words is acceptable, but must be discussed and verbally agreed to by all parties before sexual activity occurs.
■Consent is required regardless of the parties’ relationship, prior sexual history, or current activity (e.g. grinding on the dance floor is not consent for further sexual activity).
■At any and all times when consent is withdrawn or not verbally agreed to, the sexual activity must stop immediately.
■Silence is not consent.
■Body movements and non-verbal responses such as moans are not consent.
■A person can not give consent while sleeping.
■All parties must have unimpaired judgement (examples that may cause impairment include but are not limited to alcohol, drugs, mental health conditions, physical health conditions).
■All parties must use safer sex practices.
■All parties must disclose personal risk factors and any known STIs. Individuals are responsible for maintaining awareness of their sexual health.
These requirements for consent do not restrict with whom the sexual activity may occur, the type of sexual activity that occurs, the props/toys/tools that are used, the number of persons involved, the gender(s) or gender expressions of persons involved.