Sexual consent has emerged as society’s elephant in the room, an issue that became central to the Belfast rape trial which ended this week. If we are to create a culture of consent, it will involve all of us and we cannot stand by and comment righteously from a distance. We all have responsibility here and if we created a culture of consent, we might make sex and intimacy something to be celebrated and not something to be feared. Leaving it solely to young people is to deny all our parts in creating a culture where sex is consensual and enjoyable. As always, women’s groups, such as the National Women’s Council and Rape Crisis Centres, have been vocal and active in the drive for action on consent but we need all our society to participate in and create a whole culture of consent.

Source: The Irish Times March 29, 2018 16:07 UTC