Oxford Uni Starts ‘Compulsory’ Consent Classes
Share:
Classes on sexual consent and advice have always been available in universities. However, as of this year, those classes will be compulsory for freshers. The plan is for the undergraduate common room to run them in Oxford University.
Many are asking why somewhere as prestigious and exclusive as Oxford would need to be taught the basis of sexual consent in a compulsory class. The Student Union has been backed by university authorities, and the course will also cover the legal aspects of consent and some general sexual education.
But just how compulsory is the course?
Student Union representative Orla White told Newsbeat: “Each year, more and more colleges and common rooms run them as compulsory.”
The courses will not “follow up on non-attendance” and the participants are free to leave at any time.
It’s becoming a growing trend for universities to give consent training; however, it’s dividing opinions in many cases.
The National Union of Students claims that as many as one in five students experience some kind of sexual harassment during their first week of term.
Things like sexual comments, wolf-whistling, heckling at nightclub queues and even jokes about rape were all cited as examples.
In one of the talks last week in York University, it was reported that a large number of students walked out of the talks on sexual harassment.
Around 5,00 students went to the talk, and in the end, only a handful (less than 250) students were left.
Anyone walking out of sexual consent classes is simply saying to the world, "I am to be avoided by all females for the forseeable future."
— Nathalie Gordon (@awlilnatty) October 3, 2016
Sorry but you are at university because you want to learn more & don't know everything yet. Applies to sexual consent too.
— Sorana Vieru (@SoranaVieru) October 1, 2016
Hareem Ghani, who works in the NUS, spoke with The Independent, and said:
“Consent sessions work to debunk myths surrounding rape, deconstruct the impact of hyper-masculinity on all genders, and push students not to shame peers for their sexual preferences or sexual activity.”