1) Consent
Consent is the voluntary and explicit agreement to engage in the sexual activity in question. It is the act of willingly agreeing to engage in specific sexual behavior and requires that a person is able to freely choose. This means there must be an understandable exchange of affirmative words which indicate a willingness to participate in a mutually agreed upon sexual activity.
Consent is…
Communicated
Consent can never be assumed or implied, it must be communicated by both parties. Silence cannot be interpreted as consent.
Ongoing
Consent must be on-going for each sexual interaction.
Non-negotiable
Attempts at negotiating or pressuring someone into engaging in a sexual act that they have not consented to constitutes sexual violence.
Specific
Consent must be given for each specific sexual act. Consenting to kissing and touching does not mean someone is consenting to intercourse.
Enthusiastic
All parties should enthusiastically consent to every sexual act. Consent cannot be given by someone who is incapacitated (such as by drugs or alcohol), unconscious or otherwise unable to understand and voluntarily give consent.
Needed
Consent is always needed! Sexual interactions without consent is sexual violence.
Talked About
Verbal words and an affirmative "yes".
2) Sexual Violence
Sexual Violence is a broad term that describes a sexual act or acts targeting a person’s sexuality, gender identity, or gender expression, whether physical or psychological in nature, that is committed threatened or attempted against a person without their consent. This includes sexual assault, sexual harassment, stalking, indecent exposure, voyeurism, and sexual exploitation.
3) Gender-Based Violence
Any form of abuse, assault, or harassment that is inflicted upon a person or persons due to their gender identity, gender expression, or perceived gender. Gender-based violence includes domestic violence, physical abuse, financial abuse, emotional and psychological abuse.
4) Sexual Assault
Sexual assault is a criminal offense under the Criminal Code of Canada. Sexual assault is any type of unwanted sexual act done by one person to another that violates the sexual integrity of the survivor and involves a range of behaviours from any unwanted touching to penetration. Sexual assault is characterized by a broad range of behaviours that involves the use of force, threats, or control towards a person which makes that person feel uncomfortable, distressed, frightened, threatened, or that is carried out in circumstances in which the person has not freely agreed or consented to, or to which the person is incapable of consenting.
5) Sexual Harassment
Engaging in a course of conduct of a gender related or sexual nature that is known or might reasonably be known to be unwelcome/unwanted, offensive, intimidating hostile or inappropriate. Can include jokes, slurs, displaying offensive material, promise of reward or retaliation for sexual favors.
6) Stalking
Behaviors that occur on more than one occasion and which collectively instill fear in the person or threaten the persons safety or mental health, or that of their family. Stalking includes non-consensual communications (face to face, phone, email, social media): threatening or obscene gestures; surveillance and sending unsolicited gifts.
7) Indecent Exposure
The exposure of private or intimate parts of the body in a lewd or sexual manner, in a public place when the perpetrator may be readily observed.
8) Voyeurism
The secret observing of a person without their consent and in circumstances where they could reasonably expect privacy. Voyeurism may include direct observation, observation by mechanical or electrical means, or visual recording.
9) Sexual Exploitation
Taking advantage of another person through non-consensual or abusive sexual control. This may include the digital or electronic broadcasting, distributing, recording and/or photographing of people involved in sexual acts without their consent.
10) Coercion
In the context of sexual violence, coercion is unreasonable and persistent pressure for sexual activity. Coercion is the use of emotional manipulation, blackmail, threats to family or friends, or the promise of rewards or special treatment to persuade someone to do something they do not want to, such as sexual activity or performing sexual acts.
11) Rape Culture
Rape culture is a culture in which dominant ideas, social practices, media images and societal institutions implicitly or explicitly condone sexual violence by normalizing or trivializing male sexual violence and blaming the survivor for the abuse. Sexual Violence is often thought about as an individual act of aggression, but in reality, it is a complex social issue. The widespread occurrence of sexual violence continues not just as a result of individual attitudes and actions, but through dominant ideologies and larger social structures. It is everyone’s responsibility to challenge the ides, behaviours and structures that contribute to sexual violence.
For more definitions please review Niagara College’s Sexual Violence Policy.