Right to Equality has launched its ‘I’m asking for it' campaign this week. The campaign aims to make changes to the laws surrounding sexual crimes by enshrining the need for affirmative or enthusiastic consent into British law. 

In my day-to-day work, I see the devastating impact of rape and sexual abuse on those going through the process of claims with the Criminal Injuries Compensation Authority (CICA). The psychological impact this type of crime has on its victims can be disabling, severe and permanent. Survivors of rape and sexual assault have their world turned upside down by the crime, some are unable to work for prolonged periods and are unable to maintain relationships, living with disabling psychological injury for the rest of their lives. 

I've previously volunteered for the Schools Consent Project, a charity that teaches teenagers/young adults how to make safe and informed decisions about sexual consent in schools. A large portion of the workshops taught by the charity focus on the notion of ‘enthusiastic consent’. 

‘I’m asking for it' is calling for the British Government to include affirmative consent into our existing laws on rape and sexual assault. Adding these terms into the law would mean that anything other than a clear yes would not qualify as consent in the eyes of the law. This change in the law would aim to shift the focus on rape and sexual assault cases from the actions of the survivor to the actions of the rapist/abuser. It would need to be asked whether the victim gave a clear yes. Anything but a clear and informed yes, would be an offence. 

The face of the campaign is celebrity Emily Atack who has spoken about how horrified she has been at some of the statistics surrounding sexual consent, such as that one in five people think that no can actually mean yes in a sexual scenario. 

The campaign has found that two-thirds of British adults believe changing the law to include ‘affirmative consent’ will have a positive impact on the UK's rape conviction rate. 

Right to Equality has started a petition so that the above will be debated in Parliament. I urge you to read through their stance on this topic and share it with your friends, your family and your teenagers!

It's time to put an end to implied consent. Only yes, means yes.