QUB has shockingly low turnout at sexual consent classes, that needs to change

Half of students though they were patronising


For those who don’t know (I’m assuming there’s quite a few of you, considering the low turnout to Queen’s seminars on the subject), giving sexual consent means a person willingly agrees to engage in sexual activity.

According to a recent survey among students in Belfast, 49 per cent of participants felt that the consent classes at Queens were ‘patronising’. Shockingly, only eight per cent had ever even attended. Despite the university’s efforts on educating students on the matter of consent it would seem that many aren’t taking it too seriously. According to a survey of Northern Irish university students conducted by Amnesty International 46 per cent believed that a woman who had been raped was to blame if she had been acting flirtatiously; therefore highlighting the importance of education as to what justifies as sexual consent.

Cases of sexual harassment are not foreign to the city of Belfast, with the Telegraph reporting an incident of sexual assault in the area of Falls Park as recently as July; education on what sexual consent is and isn’t has never been more necessary. And with Queen’s students – freshers especially – wanting to experience all aspects of city life in Belfast, nights out are frequent, yet sadly according to a previous article published by The Tab a staggering 91 per cent of students have reported to have been groped in a nightclub. With this in mind, should sexual consent workshops become compulsory?

Many Cambridge colleges think so, as workshops on sexual consent have become compulsory for all students. It’s the same in Bristol, with many students rolling up to campus to be met with sexual consent quizzes before they can even move into halls.

Consent remains a large issue at Queens

The idea of sexual consent has certainly been disrespected and disregarded within the global media, for example with recent president-elect Donald Trump expressing previous desires to just “grab her by the p*ssy”. The importance of the education of sexual consent has never needed to be more prevalent and despite many students arguing that its ‘common sense’ it clearly doesn’t seem to be for some.