Key Messages
- Consent occurs when each individual chooses to have a sexual experience within a situation of equal power.
- In relationships, assumptions around gender roles might influence the power balance within a relationship and create further complexities around the issue of pressure and consent.
- Sexual relationships require a person to behave both legally and ethically.
Learning Intention
Students will:
- Identify the pressures that young people may experience in their intimate/sexual encounters and consider the complexities within a variety of scenarios.
Time
40 Minutes
Required Resources
- One set of ‘Sexual consent continuum' cards per group
- ‘Sexual consent continuum’ Teacher reference sheet
Success criteria
Students will:
- Discuss sexual decision making and the possibility of sexual abuse.
- Reflect on legal and ethical factors that are relevant to a sexual experience.
Teaching Notes
Be sure to discuss places and people that students can go to for help and support if they need it following the session.
Students often ask about potential legal outcomes if laws around consent are broken. This can be difficult to answer as the legal outcome depends very much on the willingness of a victim/survivor to report and the evidence available. Pressure and coercion may be difficult to provide evidence for. Young people cite ‘pressure’ as the most common reason for having unwanted sex.
Be sure to include include a content warning and discussion about ethical behaviour as well as legal behaviour. Pressure may be difficult to prove legally, but it is easily identified as unethical. Students can
be encouraged to seek support whether they think the law has been broken or not.
Gender stereotypes may become part of this discussion. Be sure to include people of any gender and any type of relationship.
A positive, respectful sexual experience happens when it is lawful and aligns with the personal boundaries of the people involved. This will always involve clear communication about consent.
Procedure
- Review the meaning of, and the laws about, consent (see Teacher reference sheet).
- Divide the class into groups of five to six students.
- Distribute a copy of the ‘Sexual continuum cards’ to each group, explaining each heading; consent/ pressure/ coercion/ force. Explain that the task is to reach an agreement within the groups as to which heading each scenario should be placed under.
- Invite a spokesperson from each group to report back to the class.
Questioning
A class discussion could include the following questions:
- Did the group agree on the placement of the cards? If not, what discussions did you have and why?
- Was there any extra information needed to make a decision?
- How did you define or differentiate the different headings?
- Do you believe that there is an expectation that a person must actively resist unwanted sex to be taken seriously?
- Do people of any gender experience unwanted sex? Do you think all genders and types of relationships consider what consent looks like in the same way?
- Which cards could have related to same-sex relationships? Can power still be an issue within same-sex relationships? Discuss.
- Some people in the scenarios clearly regretted what happened. Can you identify these scenarios and suggest what they could have done to change the outcome?
- What would be the next step for someone who had experienced unwanted sex?
- How do people know when there is consent for a sexual experience?
- What people or which resources could an individual access if they had any further questions or concerns about this topic?
- Where would compliance fit in the continuum? Is it ethical to have sex just because the other person wants to?
References
Adapted from the sexual continuum described by Liz Kelly.