August brings the end of summer and starts a countdown to the beginning of school for all types of students. For many first-year university students, it’s an exciting time in their lives with the beginning of their post-secondary education and their first steps into adulthood. But the start of university brings the highly anticipated, controversial and booze-fueled hooliganism that’s long associated with orientation week, known to many as frosh week. With a string of instances of sexual assault last year (and in previous years), universities realized the need for conversations about consent and rape culture.

McGill University made headlines in 2011 when three then-members of the university’s football team had sexual assault charges laid which were eventually dropped. The most shocking, yet unsurprising aspect of this story was the three football players were not suspended from the team until the allegations became public. After outcry from the student population for the universities lacklustre handling of the sexual assault case, McGill hired Bianca Tétrault to help combat sexual assault on campus.

Since then McGill continues to roll out campaigns focused on educating students on consent, preventing incidents of sexual assault, raising the awareness of rape culture and engaging university administration on the need for more concentrated efforts to combat sexual violence. McGill now requires first-year university students to partake in consent education by requiring mandatory training before students can register for frosh activities. The kind of action McGill is taking shapes the way Canadians talk about consent now and in the future; it holds everyone accountable and promotes healthy, mutually empowering sexual relationships and culture of consent.

Statistics from SACHA, a sexual assault centre in Ontario, point to the need for educational campaigns for university students and Canadians as a whole. SACHA reports that 50 per cent of sexual assaults involve alcohol and 15 to 25 per cent of university-aged women will experience some form of sexual assault during their academic career. Excessive drinking, drug use and a party fueled mentality can exacerbate an anti-consent environment. There is a clear need to improve awareness about the importance of consent and alcohol consumption and to educate Canadians as a whole.  The Canadian Women’s Foundation reported that two-thirds of Canadians do not understand what consent actually is.

We need to begin education about consent early and ensure that it is a continuing conversation. Consent is the foundation of sex; consent is communicating your agreement on your terms actively, continually and enthusiastically. Not giving consent is no longer as simple as saying no. Not giving consent can mean freezing up, saying you’re tired, crying, pulling away or changing your mind as examples. These conversations should start in childhood reinforcing that your body is your own, and that must be respected by parents, family, friends and people alike.

When we begin these conversations early and frequently, we move forward with a generation that understands healthy relationships and how to recognize, respect and react to consent. We applaud McGill University for its #ConsentMcGill campaign and the steps taken to educate students on sexual violence.

Click here for more information on consent.

Click here for a short video outlining consent.