Consent

An agreement between participants to engage in a mutually desirable activity.

• Consent to sexual activity cannot be provided while either person is: inebriated, in danger if they do not provide consent, underage, or unconscious.

• Consent can be withdrawn at any point during a sexual activity.

• Consent can be verbal or non-verbal. The withdrawal of consent can be verbal or non-verbal.

• Provided consent is not ongoing: consent to one activity does not equate to consent in another and consent at one point in time does not carry over to a later point in time.

• Involuntary physical responses do not equate to consent.

• Enthusiastic consent: A newer understanding of consent that relies on the positive expression of desire for sexual activity to commence, rather than the basic understanding of consent as the answer “yes”.

Rape culture

The normalization of sexual violence within society. Rape culture includes jokes, music, imagery, and more that make sexual violence and coercion seem normal.

Rape kit

The kit used in a sexual assault physical exam. It may also be referred to as a sexual assault evidence kit. It may include: documentation forms, bags and swabs for evidence collection, combs, instructions, materials for blood samples, and more.

Sexual assault

Non-consensual physical sexual contact. It covers a broad array of sexually violent acts.

• Rape: A type of sexual assault that includes sexual penetration of any kind.

  • Rape is a type of sexual assault, but not all sexual assault is rape.

Sexual harassment

Unwelcome conduct of a sexual nature. Sexual harassment does not have to be physical; it can be verbal, digital, etc. It can happen in any environment. 

Stalking

Repeated and unwanted attention and/or behavior that places a person in fear of their safety. Some examples of stalking include: a pattern of watching someone, a pattern of following someone, making threats, and repetitive communication.