Watch above: A campaign spearheaded by Acadia University students wants to start the conversation about what sexual consent is and what it is not. Julia Wong explains.
HALIFAX – What means “no”? And what should you “know”?
Those are questions Acadia University students are trying to tackle in the kNOw More campaign.
The campaign stemmed from a sociology class project where students surveyed their peers about hook up and hook up culture.
“It was having them define hook up to capture the complexity that surrounds what is a hook up. It was also looking at their experiences of hook up, their experiences after hook up, what they look for in terms of hooking up, what they look for in terms of relationships and how they differ,” said sociology professor Zelda Abramson.
The students collected hundreds of responses and said what they found was disturbing.
“We found people weren’t having casual sex as frequently as we thought they were and people weren’t looking to only have casual sex but were really looking for long term relationships,” said campaign co-creator Kate Dalrymple.
“A lot of people weren’t really confident in what was considered consent, what was considered coercion and if seducing someone was ok or if it was coercion in itself.”
Dalrymple also said the data showed varsity athletes felt pressure to participate in hook up culture even if they did not want to and that both genders felt the need to reciprocate if someone “made a move”, such as buying them a drink or walking them home.
“I think these results show that there is a huge amount of confusion surrounding hook up culture and just sexuality in general on our campus.”
She said the campaign, which includes posters around campus and videos posted online, is meant to get the dialogue going and cut through the confusion. It includes phrases such as “NO MORE she asked for it”, “NO MORE her dress was too short” and “KNOW MORE about what consent truly means”.
Liam Murphy, a fellow co-creator and incoming president of the Acadia Students Union, said there is a need for the conversation to be ongoing.
“”No more” is really the front line of sexual assault and the “know” is really helping people better understand what full enthusiastic consent is,” he said.
Abramson said consent is complicated but she hopes the campaign helps people understand the nuances of it.
“People often think they’re giving consent and they’re not giving consent or they’re hesitant about consent. People have different interpretations,” she said.
She cites social, alcohol and personal pressures as factors that make consent difficult to understand.
Campaign co-creator Nora Allen said the campaign was launched at the beginning of the year though the posters and videos weren’t rolled out until recent weeks.
She said it will return in the fall and there is hope the idea will be picked up across the country.
Ultimately, the students want not only their campus but every university campus in Canada to be a starting point for this critical conversation.
“We want to create a culture on campus [for students to do] what they want to do and [feel] comfortable stopping when they want to stop,” Dalrymple said.
Comments