Who Are We? The Consent Academy is an educational collective based out of Seattle, WA. With over 60 years of education experience collectively, our approach incorporates disciplines of psychology, sociology, public health, psychotherapy, and personal coaching to create a systemic view of how consent impacts everyone from the bedroom to the boardroom. We believe consent is a part of everyday life, and its practice builds stronger, safer, and more connected communities.
We know firsthand that our culture doesn’t do enough to teach about consent. Since our founding in 2016, we’ve helped thousands of people each year to better understand consent and its complex issues and skills. While our group began with just ten volunteers, it has become a force for change. Working both in person and online, we educate for communities and organizations across the US and abroad. Our team of volunteers works together to both teach consent and innovate on this complex topic we love. For many of us, it is a passion project. For some, it is part of the day-to-day work we do. For all of us, it is our way to grow consent culture, both in our lives and around the world. What Do We Do? The Consent Academy exists to help people understand the complexity of consent and build consent culture in their own communities, organizations, schools, and homes. We do this by:
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Our Mission:
Our mission is to teach consent in all of its complexity, aspects, and potential.
We are committed to establishing the foundations for consent culture by:
We are committed to establishing the foundations for consent culture by:
- Creating relevant and targeted consent content and curriculum.
- Making consent education accessible and inclusive to all ages, backgrounds, settings, and contexts.
- Challenging current assumptions, perceptions, and the status quo.
- Empowering dialogue around the application of consent in daily life.
- Operating authentically, bravely, honestly, and with acceptance and compassion.
- Embracing these two concepts: #ConsentIsEssential #ConsentIsForEveryone
Our Role:
We are Educators.
As experts in the field of consent, our role is to help people better understand consent and the way it fits into their lives.
We provide compassionate support to help people through the experience of harm.
Not satisfied with a simple explanation or understanding, we strive to deeply understand how consent works and how it can be practiced.
There is no such thing as enough understanding when it comes to consent. There is always more to learn, tease apart, and synthesize.
We don't know everything about consent. That would be impossible given its scope and complexity. But after hundreds of hours of research and teaching, we've learned a lot.
Though we come from many different disciplines and backgrounds, we work together as a unit to bring our knowledge, experience, and understanding to you.
As experts in the field of consent, our role is to help people better understand consent and the way it fits into their lives.
- Our work is not about telling you how to do consent or what you "should" do.
- Our work is about helping you to understand what consent is and how it can work in your life and context.
- We're here to help you know options and concepts so you can choose what's best for you.
We provide compassionate support to help people through the experience of harm.
- We are not here to judge, punish, or blame people. Most people get enough of that already.
- We're here to provide a non-judgmental and professional space to help anyone involved in a Consent Incident.
- We are not here to determine who is right or wrong, to keep track of violators, or to control anyone's behavior.
- We're here to provide a framework for accountability that individuals and organizations can use to move forward and reduce harm.
- We do not directly run or support accountability processes.
Not satisfied with a simple explanation or understanding, we strive to deeply understand how consent works and how it can be practiced.
- Many people want a simple answer when it comes to consent; a way to determine is a given behavior is consensual or not.
- Our simplest model is a 4-Part Complex Model of Consent.
- Many people contend that consent only exists in the context of sex, and therefore doesn't need to be talked about outside of that.
- We teach that consent is part of daily life and is present any time two people interact. Talking about it is appropriate for everyone from infants to the elderly. While it is important for sexual activity, it's about so much more than that.
There is no such thing as enough understanding when it comes to consent. There is always more to learn, tease apart, and synthesize.
- We believe it's not enough to teach about consent from either a strictly academic or personal perspective.
- We support the cultivation of consent praxis - the combination of consent theory and practice that creates unique ways of relating consensually and addressing non-consent.
- We continue to push the field of consent with new curriculum, ideas, language, and practices. We see it as part of our work to find and talk about all of the places consent exists and work to help others understand them.
We don't know everything about consent. That would be impossible given its scope and complexity. But after hundreds of hours of research and teaching, we've learned a lot.
- Our collective is made up of therapists, teachers, social workers, academics, consultants, students, sex educators, survivor advocates, and people who have lived and experienced the impact of broken consent.
- We're here to lend our knowledge, understanding, and experience to you.
Though we come from many different disciplines and backgrounds, we work together as a unit to bring our knowledge, experience, and understanding to you.
- There is no way to work on consent alone. There is too much area to cover and too much need.
- Our volunteers work together to show up for each other and for you. Whenever we can, we teach and consult in pairs, giving multiple voices to the complexities that exist.
- There is no way to process consent alone. There is too much complexity and content.
- By bringing together diverse voices and experiences, we're better able to avoid bias, manage privilege, and provide sufficient emotional support for one another in our work.