There is exactly one thing that you need before you have sex: consent. Supposedly, it works this way: if it's not a yes, then it's a no, and anything else you say or do to convince someone otherwise is sexual assault.
Sounds easy enough, right? However, not everyone is aware of the fact that non-consensual sex is generally classified as rape, and some girls even do the deed with their boyfriends unwillingly because "boys will be boys."
Here comes Project Consent, a non-profit organization that conveys the very straightforward concept of consent not being complicated. The organization's mission is geared towards education, awareness and positive dialogue regarding rape culture with the help of cute videos to illustrate what it means to get the necessary consent.
The videos have oddly adorable body parts like vaginas and penises, breasts and butts and even a hand tossed in there. All of them participated in pretty wholesome activities, but when one gets a little too confident and makes a sexual advance, a simple "no" is enough to make the advances stop.
Terry Drummond, the Chief Creative Officer of Juniper Park/TBWA who produced the videos said in a statement, "The goal of the campaign is to get people to see consent differently. It isn't a messy and complicated issue. Again, it's simple. If it's not yes, it's no."
At the Oscars, even Lady Gaga's performance spoke out on behalf of all the people who have ever been sexually assaulted, as did Vice President Joe Biden, who encouraged everyone to take a stand and take a pledge on the "It's On Us" campaign, which deems to create an environment that supports survivors instead of shunning them.
The conversation about sexual assault and rape culture is finally being taken seriously. At some point, as a parent you will have to talk to your child about it, too. Start off simple: If it's not a yes, then it's a no. Without consent, any sexual advance is a sexual assault and sexual assault is always, always unacceptable.
