Consent is very important for all .
People have to want to say yes and feel yes signs in their body. Yes and no signs in the body feel different for everyone. It is important that you know what they feel like for you.
You can say yes or no with your words or your body language. Not giving consent can sound like: “no” or “stop” or “not yet” or “I am not ready” or not responding.
Not giving can look like: shaking your head, not making eye contact, freezing, or pulling away.
If you say no with your words or body language during , the other person needs to stop what they are doing.
If someone does these things or says these things to you, you need to stop what you are doing.
You have the right to change your mind.
You can say yes and then no.
You can say yes to one thing and no to another thing.
Rules, laws and feelings are a part of sexual consent.
The law says for sex to happen, all people need to:
Consent is a form of agreement. We consent for lots of things like sharing our belongings or deciding with a friend or support worker what you want to do in the day.
When we talk about sex and consent, we mean both people have to agree to want to have sex. No one should ever force, trick, or guilt you into sex or sexual activities. If they do, it is against the law.
Sexual activity can include lots of different things.
It can mean any kind of sexual touch including hand jobs, fingering, oral sex, anal sex, vaginal sex, genital to genital contact, using sex toys with partners, sexual intercourse and other things too. Sex is with another person or persons. Sex needs to be consensual, meaning you both want to do it. You can stop having sex at any time. Sex should feel good for both partners.