Consent

Consent and sex – consent must be given by all of the individuals engaging in the sexual activity. This means all individuals must agree to the sexual activity by choice and have the freedom and capacity to make this choice. Consent can be withdrawn at any point throughout the sexual activity.

To make this clearer watch the short video clip – “Cup of Tea Consent” or search for cup of tea consent clean and watch the video on YouTube.

Young people and sexual consent – a young person under the age of 16 cannot legally consent to having sex. Despite this, health professionals can give contraception and contraception advice to young people from the age of 13-16 if they believe that the young person is mature enough to make these decisions. A young person under the age of 13 does not have the legal capacity to consent to sex meaning that if this were to happen it would be dealt with under rape laws.

Talking about consent with young people is incredibly important as at this age, your young person may start forming relationships and exploring their sexuality. Talking about consent may feel like a big topic and so here are some tips to try and make it easier…

• Use a TV show or movie clip to introduce the topic of consent or you could show them the cup of tea consent video.
• Bring it up at a relaxed time such as out for a walk, on the drive home from school, during dinner time.
• You don’t have to start by talking about them having sex, you could talk about their friend’s relationships or talk about consent in regards to things like kissing or being touched .
• Show interest in what they’re learning about at school and ask if they have spoken about consent in sex education and what they learnt about it.