Over half of UCL students want consent classes to be made compulsory

According to findings in The Tab’s sexual assault survey, over half of UCL students think consent classes should be made compulsory.

The survey found 54 per cent of respondents wanted sexual consent classes to be made compulsory for students, whilst 38 per cent argued that consent classes were too patronising.

Out of the 537 students who participated in the survey, only 18 per cent admitted to ever actually attending a sexual consent class.

Over the last few years, Students’ Unions across the country have started to include sexual consent classes as part of a series of introductory lectures for new students.

Sexual consent classes aim to clearly define consent as well as to make students aware of what counts as sexual assault and rape in the eyes of the law.

However they have been the subject of controversy, especially at universities where classes are compulsory, with some critics arguing they are both patronising to students and ineffective at tackling the problem of sexual assault.

According to the results from The Tab’s sexual assault survey, 18 per cent of students – 15 per cent of girls and five per cent of boys – said they had been a victim of rape, with a further 36 per cent reporting they had been victims of sexual assault.

87 per cent of students admitted to being groped in a club and 27 per cent said they had had their drink spiked.