As Post-Secondary Students What Do We Really Know About Sexual Consent?

Soraya Jackson
Nov 25, 2021
3 min read

After the events at Western University, a question in the air was: what educational experience do students have about sexual assault and harassment.

Not your simplified discussion about sexual harassment and assault being wrong, but how much knowledge does everyone have regarding sexual violence resources? Where do we go? What do we do? What should we avoid?

It is a loaded question, but sexual harassment, assault, and consent are multi-layered conversations.

Knowledge about these resources is vital for first-year students in both secondary and post-secondary schools.

Living on-campus makes this conversation more valuable as students are responsible for themselves.

Sexual assault, more specifically rape, can be a taboo topic. We know it happens, but we don’t know how often it happens. When we finally acknowledge the issue, we often dance around the words.

A 2019 study was done by the Canadian Centre for Justice, and Community Saftey says,

71 per cent of students at Canadian post-secondary schools have experienced or witnessed unwanted sexualized behaviours in a post-secondary setting.

Sonia first-year student at Western University, recounts her first couple of weeks living on campus,

“It was two days before O-week where I actually moved into my residence. London is a whole new town that I had to get used to. I didn’t know anything so I had no idea where to get help or what to do before O-week,”

It was only during orientation week that the school covered topics such as sexual consent and safety.

“We were provided with all the terms and knowledge about what consent is and isn’t. We also got many scenarios that showed what we should do or don’t do in that case and tips on safety. There were also examples of how to watch out for others and that sexual violence can happen to both sexes. It was life so we all were able to comment and ask questions and answer questions that they proposed if we wanted to.”

I don’t live on campus, but I vaguely remember two police officers having an assembly discussing sexual assault during my first year of high school. They spoke about how neither person can give consent if both people are intoxicated with drugs or alcohol.

Madison Marier describes her experience in Guelph-Humber/Humber residence, “there are posters on the walls that explain consent as well as we had a mandatory meeting at the beginning of the year where they explained sexual assaults and consent information.”

The Canadian criminal code examples of “no consent obtained”:

no consent is obtained if

(a) the agreement is expressed by the words or conduct of a person other than the complainant;

(a.1) the complainant is unconscious;

(b) the complainant is incapable of consenting to the activity for any reason other than the one referred to in paragraph (a.1);

(d) the complainant expresses, by words or conduct, a lack of agreement to engage in the activity; or

(e) the complainant, having consented to engage in sexual activity, expresses, by words or conduct, a lack of agreement to continue to engage in the activity.

Humber College/University of Guelph-Humber Sexual violence Policy

A third-year psychology student at the University of Waterloo, Jada, defines sexual consent as when “both [parties involved] expressing verbally that they consent to any degree of sexual activity.”

"It ruins the mood."

This is an attitude that is often expressed.

I think consent should ruin the mood. If a partner does not give you consent to do something to them — that’s it. Stop. The mood should be over. Move on.

However, just because they did not consent to ‘that’s ‘X’ does not mean they will not consent to ‘Z.’

Don't coercion someone into something. That does not consent and that ruins the mood. If they give you consent, that’s great; that should make the experience better for everyone because everyone is enjoying themselves.

When people sign up to do the Slingshot ride at Canada’s Wonderland or when people go skydiving, they are given a piece of paper to sign that provides the operator with consent to possibly “kill them.”

I don’t think that dampers that mood; it probably makes it more thrilling for them.

It’s a stupid comparison, but the point is made.

When we get to where over 50% of post-secondary school students say they have witnessed or experienced sexual assault or harassment, we must reevaluate what is being taught to our youth.

“As early as kindergarten. It is simple to teach children the concept of consent early on, so [even] though you shouldn’t be using graphic terms with them, you can get them to understand what unwanted touching is, how to tell someone you are uncomfortable,” says Jada.