What is Consent?
(v 4.3 - Last Revised: 12/22/20)
Consent is a voluntary agreement, made without coercion, between persons with decision-making capacity, knowledge, understanding, and autonomy. 

  • Consent covers all forms of interaction. It creates a space where the safety and agency of all parties is honored using healthy communication and negotiation to craft informed boundaries.
    • ​It is part of everyday life, present in all forms of human interaction (not just sex).
  • Consent, explicit and implicit, is dependent on the capacity of the parties involved, the context of the situation, and can be revoked at any time. It is a process of constant and collaborative discovery.
  • Consent allows someone to ask for something and receive an honest and authentic answer. It exists where: 
    • The person answering has enough capacity, information, agency, and ability to give that honest and authentic answer without coercion or undue influence. 
    • The person asking has enough capacity, information, agency, and ability to receive that answer without creating a coercive environment.
  • Honoring autonomy (the right each person has to do and say what happens to one’s own body, mind, and spirit) is a defining feature of consent. 
Consent is also a way of life, centered around the belief that everyone has the right to give an honest and authentic answer to what they choose to do and a responsibility to accept the answers given by others. 

#ConsentEssential    #ConsentForEveryone

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