Consent in sexual relations has to be given on every occasion. However, consent is multi-layered, not always understood. This is due to imbalanced and misinformed media coverage and lack of education around the topic. This has led to what is known as rape myths which fuels sexual violence[1]. Examples of rape myths include:

They were drunk, so cannot complain

They were dressed provocatively and were asking for it

Only girls/women get raped[2]

These examples are common rape myths, which, are not only devastating in protecting victims of sexual assault/rape, but also allow the perpetrators to get away with it. Consequently, this sees only 5.7% of all rape/sexual assault cases prosecuted every year in the UK[3]

Consent should be taught at a young age so children are aware and have an informed discussion on this.

[1] Rape Crisis England and Wales ˜Rape Myths™ Available online at: https://rapecrisis.org.uk/mythsvsrealities.php                                                                [2] Ibid                                                                                                                            [3] Rape Crisis England and Wales Statistics Available online at: https://rapecrisis.org.uk/statistics.php