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MORE ON CONSENT
Named “2017 Journalist of the Year” by the National Newspaper Awards, Robyn Doolittle has a new book coming out this year about sexual politics. Had It Coming will tell the personal stories of men and women caught in the fraught territory of sexual assault—in and out of the courtroom—and depict the current climate about the meaning of consent and the legal framework around sexual assault.
Another thing that I’m interested in for university campuses is a larger conversation about child sexual abuse and sexual assault of children and youth. We know that 55 per cent of the cases that go to police are young people, under the age of 17.
And, if we’re going to talk about addressing sexual violence on campuses, we’ve got to deal with what’s happening in high schools and grade schools and work with that group.
RU MAGAZINE: What’s the most important thing for people to know about consent?
FARRAH: What we really would want people to understand is that consent is a dynamic process.
It’s not a contract that you sign. There are a lot of [consent] apps right now that if you click and then your partner clicks, everything’s good. But, it’s a dynamic process, and it’s not just for sex.
So, we talk about the fact that it’s about asking somebody what your gender pronoun is and respecting it. Or it could be even, “Can I take your picture?” Or, “Can I post that picture?”
And, we want to say that consent isn’t just one way. It’s multiple ways.
For students, staff and faculty, it’s understanding that we practice consent every day, not just in our sexual relationships, but also in our everyday life.
ROBYN: In Canada, we have one of the most progressive set of laws and common-law court decisions in the world, around consent. In Canada we have an affirmative consent standard.
So, it’s not whether you say, “no.” It’s whether you indicate, “yes”. And “yes” doesn’t mean saying, “Yes, I will have sex with you.” It means that you have indicated to that person that you are a willing participant in the sexual activity. And you don’t need to fight back. You don’t need to say, “No,” for it to be sexual assault.
The other thing is we have laws around incapacity. So, if someone is so drunk, or so high, that they are incapacitated, or if they’re unconscious, they can’t consent to sex. 
This interview has been edited and condensed. Listen to the full interview on the Ryerson Today podcast on iTunes.
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