Trauma-informed Consent Education: Understanding the Grey Area of Consent Through the Experiences of Youth Trauma Survivors

Abstract

Sexual consent education has emerged in recent years as the most popular method of preventing gender-based violence. Yet, the concept of consent used in much contemporary programming problematically oversimplifies sexual exploration and the power dynamics it is imbued with by asserting that consent is as simple as “Yes” or “No.” The messiness of sexual negotiation or the ‘grey areas’ of consent that youth may experience are left unaddressed. By examining the experiences of youth trauma survivors through a trauma-informed lens, the limits to binary consent education become clear. I draw on empirical data from nine open-ended interviews with Canadian youth trauma survivors to demonstrate how a trauma-informed lens may be implemented in consent education. I argue that educators should include understandings of consent which falls outside the Yes/No binary in order to adequately address youth survivors’ vulnerability to sexual (re)victimization. I examine how three of the psychosocial impacts of trauma, dissociation, hypersexuality, and struggles with acquiescence, refuse the binaristic model of consent and should be considered for trauma-informed consent education. While education alone cannot end rape culture, addressing the grey area of consent in consent education may help reduce preventable harm for survivors, as well as youth more broadly.

“The loving queer gaze”: The epistemological significance of queer joy

“…This is not how I felt about myself years ago, and it's a real sign that I recognize now, like no, consent is important, it's necessary, and there's no negotiation when it comes to my consent and my needs, you know?” For Frankie and other participants, expressing care for self by identifying and centering their boundaries was an essential part of creating the conditions of safety necessary for queer and trans sexual joy. Moreover, as 2SLGBTQ+ youth are subjected to sexual violence at disproportionately high rates compared to their cis heterosexual peers (Wright, Zidenberg, et al., 2023), for Frankie and other survivors in the study, navigating consent in nuanced ways with queer partners was liberating, deeply pleasurable, and this practice rejected the reductive, transactional approach to consent often taught in sexuality education (Wright, 2022; Wright & Manuel, 2024).…”

Enhancing Comprehensive Sexuality Education for Students with Disabilities: Insights from Ontario’s Educational Framework

“…This approach, which encourages open dialogues on sexuality, its significance, resource provision, tailored conversations, education on safe sexual practices, and documentation, can be invaluable for educators, especially when engaging with students with mental health variations [58]. Educators must be acutely aware of the complexities involved in delivering sexuality education to students with diverse mental health backgrounds, including those with potentially traumatic experiences related to sexuality [59].…”

“…Recent Canadian research underscores the importance of addressing mental health as an integral aspect of sexuality and health education, advocating for a comprehensive approach to well-being [59,60]. A prominent challenge for individuals with mental health conditions is the potential ostracization in interpersonal, romantic, and sexual relationships upon disclosing their mental health challenges [61].…”

Victimhood and Blame Dialectics in Culturally Diverse Male Students’ Discussions About Sexual Assault Policies

“…Dialectics, “the art of thinking the coincidence of distinctions and connections” ( Bhaskar, 2008 , p. 180; see also Gunnarsson, 2018 , p. 5; Semlak et al, 2008 ), is useful when considering SV/SA, a domain replete with dichotomies such as privacy/disclosure, masculine/feminine, victim/perpetrator, consensual/non-consensual, virgin/whore, and powerful/powerless ( Gunnarsson, 2018 ; Wright, 2022 ). This approach has Eastern and Western roots, although it may come more naturally to those steeped in Eastern traditions (e.g., Dafermos, 2018 ; Peng & Nisbitt, 1999 ; Lister, 1997 ).…”