Health Services

WHAT IS CONSENT ?

Asking for consent is recognition of the individual’s right to control their own body and behavior. It communicates respect and acceptance of equal rights between adults.

• Consent is an agreement between people to permit an act or behavior.
•  It must be freely given. It can not be assumed.
• The person giving consent must be fully conscious and aware, able to communicate their permission, and able to refuse without fear of consequences.
• Consent to kissing, touching, or other intimacies does not imply consent to intercourse or other penetrative sex. 

Alcohol can impair an individual’s ability to make decisions and to communicate them.  Intoxicated individuals may be unable to consent to intimacy.  An individual who is so intoxicated they can not walk normally, or think or speak clearly is very unlikely to be able to provide valid consent. If you or your partner is intoxicated, or if the issue of consent is unclear, walk away. There will be a lower risk opportunity for consensual intimacy another day.

Valid consent can not be given in the presence of mental incapacitation, coercion, intimidation, or physical force.