A survey by sexual health charity FPA reveals deeply concerning attitudes about sexual consent that are prevalent across all ages in the UK. FPA is calling for high-quality relationships and sex education (RSE) on consent and better representation of consent in the media after the survey showed a huge disparity between young people’s perception of their knowledge on consent, and their attitudes when presented with real-life scenarios.
The survey found:
- Fewer than half of people (47%) think it's OK for someone to withdraw consent if they are already naked, along with just 39% of young people aged 14-17.
- Only 13% of people said they would be most likely to discuss issues of consent with a partner.
- 45% of young people aged 18-24 learnt about consent from TV and film, along with 37% of those aged 14-17.
- 9% of people don’t think it is OK to withdraw consent under any of the following circumstances:
- They have been bought dinner
- They have been bought drinks
- They have already kissed the other person
- They are in a bedroom
- They have had sex with that person before
- They are already naked