A couple of nights ago, I decided to procrastinate on my homework and call up one of my friends from my hometown. We had a pretty normal conversation, with me telling her about my classes, and her telling me about how she and the rest of her family were having a great time on vacation in Miami (sigh). When she casually asked me about what I was doing this weekend, I mentioned that along with being ragey (obviously), I would be working at Consent Day.
(Long pause on the telephone.)
"Huh?" said the baffled voice at the other end of the line.
Although Consent Day has been happening for several years at the College, my friend clued me in to the fact that on many college campuses, consensual sex is not as hot of a topic (pun definitely intended) as I had assumed. Luckily, education on sexual assault has been increasingly emphasized among our age group in recent years. But less emphasis has been given to positive preventative education: what consent means, explicit affirmation of consent and the fact that, as Sexual Assault Awareness Program coordinator Leah Prescott rightly points out on Dartmouth's website, "sexual assault affects us all."
Although hopefully all of us here at Dartmouth agree that sexual violence is wrong and should never occur, perhaps fewer students are informed enough to always correctly identify and name certain practices as assault. Knowledge about what constitutes sexual assault is even more important here at Dartmouth, with the tight-knit social culture and the small size of the student body. The vast majority of sexual assaults, over 80 percent, are committed by someone the survivor knows, potentially even a person with whom they are in a consenting relationship. The bottom line is that anyone -- male or female, rich or poor, of any ethnicity and background -- could be susceptible to sexual assault.
Notwithstanding the seriousness and importance of these facts, Consent Day is not meant to be one long, somber, preachy lecture. "Rather than placing blame on perpetrators or outing survivors of rape," co-chair Elizabeth Sherman '08 said. "Our goal is to spread awareness about the resources available at Dartmouth for addressing sexual assault, and to encourage everyone to have and promote consensual sex."
Some other colleges view consent as an issue that needs to be actively addressed. At Columbia University, for example, the Consent Campaign spreads the message about the importance of consent through promotional posters, educational workshops and men's and women's underwear emblazoned with the words, "Want to go further? Ask me!"
But generally speaking, although most college health services' websites include information about what constitutes rape and what to do if you have been sexually assaulted, far fewer, if any, have affirmative, day-long events promoting consent and education. And I certainly do not know of any other college that makes brightly-colored "Consensual Sex is Hot" T-shirts. I applaud our Center for Women and Gender for leading the way in awareness and education.
Although Dartmouth's Consent Day should focus on preventative treatment rather than blaming perpetrators, issues tangential to consensual sex must also be recognized and addressed. At the top of this list is the reality that sexually transmitted diseases will affect one in four people at some point during their lifetimes. I would speculate that most people at Dartmouth, myself included, are woefully under-informed about how these diseases or infections are contracted, how best to prevent or treat them and what resources exist at Dartmouth to help those who contract an STD. STD education is a crucial part of learning about consensual sex, because full consent necessarily means full disclosure of all the risks. In the future, it would benefit all of us here at Dartmouth for health services to make our resources visible and integrated into campus life, just as the Sexual Assault Awareness Program has done on the issue of sexual assault.
In the meantime, Consent Day is a positive contribution to the Dartmouth campus, and even if you're already aware of the issues, at least you'll get that free T-shirt you've always wanted.
