Consent

A key part of a healthy relationship is consent, so it’s important that we all understand our responsibilities. The age of consent to any form of sexual activity is 16 for both men and women, having any kind of sex without getting consent is illegal and is rape or sexual assault.

A partner has the right to change their mind and withdraw consent to sexual activity at any time and consent to one sort of sexual activity does not mean consent to everything. Consent is required for each sexual activity.

There are many ways for someone to show that they don’t consent to sexual activity: they don’t just have to say ‘no’. How do you know you definitely have consent? If you are ever in any doubt about having someone’s consent, you should stop and ask, every time, we’ve developed these keyrings with messages to remind people:

Got consent? Play
No consent? Stop

Useful resources for you

Sexual Consent: do you get it?  Take the quiz and find out if you really know when you’ve got consent.

Love Life: First crushes, first kisses, first times… Figuring it all out can be rather confusing. From who to talk with, to what to expect, we’re here to help one another.

Safe4Me: Consent awareness campaign for prom As part of the summer festival season awareness relating to sexual consent, posters specific to prom and house parties are available for schools to support Hampshire Constabulary to raise awareness and help keep young people safe.

Resources for teachers

The NSPCC have created this teachers guide ‘Making sense of relationships’.