Sexual consent awareness campaign launched

Fleming College and Trent University are encouraging communication around sexual consent through a new public awareness campaign. The campaign #DoYouTalkConsent? is aimed at post-secondary students as well as the general public.

Several organizations have teamed up to create the campaign: Trent, Fleming, the Kawartha Sexual Assault Centre (KSAC) and PARN – Your Community AIDS Resource Network.

They’ve produced a series of animated posters, as well as a cartoon video, featuring two acquaintances who meet through friends at a bar.

In the video, the young man and woman hit it off – but then they decide to meet the next day, rather than go to her apartment together after the bar.

Although they don’t explicitly talk about whether he should come home with her for sex, they negotiate – and decide it would be better not to spend the night together.

The posters will be shared on campuses, as well as on social media. The idea is to give people an example of how to negotiate sexual consent.

“We want to encourage people to have more communication around sexual consent and what that looks like in practice,” said Amie Kroes, the student rights officer at Fleming College, in a written release.

“Negotiation of consent, specifically in situations where one or both of the parties have been consuming alcohol, can get complicated. Seeing positive, pro-social messaging around how to negotiate consent in these cases is the goal.”

Lisa Clarke, the community engagement manager at KSAC, was also quoted in the release.

“So often, we hear the message of ‘No means no,’ but what if we never hear no?” she asks. “What are some of the other ways that indicate there may be a question of sexual consent?”

The YouTube video can be viewed online at www.thepeterboroughexaminer.com.

You can also follow the campaign on Twitter through the hashtags #DoYouTalkConsent? #FlemingTalksConsent and #TrentTalksConsent