"Sexual assault is a form of violence between people that can be uniquely traumatizing. Any form of sexual touch or behavior that happens without the consent of every person involved is sexual assault. Anyone can be a survivor of sexual assault, no matter their age or gender, and anyone can commit sexual assault against another person. Though many of us were taught to fear things like "stranger danger," the truth is that most survivors know the person who harmed them. There"s no certain kind of touch or contact you need to have experienced to "count." Each person"s experience is their own; sexual assault is defined by the person who experiences it. We aren"t going to ask you to share what you"ve been through or justify your experience. If you feel that your consent was violated, that is enough.Consent is a mutual agreement between people; in sexual situations, consent specifically refers to a person"s ability to say yes or no for whatever reasons they want, at whatever time they want, and trust that they will be respected. That means that consent is about more than just "yes" or "no." Consent has to be freely-given, meaning that there can"t be consent if a person is pressured, threatened, or manipulated into saying yes. A person also can"t consent if they are intoxicated, unconscious, or asleep, and silence doesn"t count as saying yes. Consent also has to be enthusiastic, which means that there can only be consent if a person is saying yes because they truly want to engage in sexual contact, not because they feel they have to."
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