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For anyone who’s ever been confused about what sexual consent means, the UK’s Thames Valley Police has just launched a brilliant YouTube campaign explaining it using a quintessentially English tea analogy.
The video, titled “Consent: It’s as Simple as Tea,” explains accepting or rejecting the offer of sex by likening it to the act of accepting or rejecting a cup of tea. It goes through all the situations that can be twisted by certain people, all the while keeping with the tea analogy.
“If you say ‘hey, would you like a cup of tea?’ and they um and ahh and say, ‘I’m not really sure…’ then you can make them a cup of tea or not, but be aware that they might not drink it, and if they don’t drink it then — this is the important bit — don’t make them drink it.”
“You can’t blame them for you going to the effort of making the tea on the off-chance they wanted it; you just have to deal with them not drinking it… they don’t want you to come around to their place and [say] but you wanted tea last week.”
“If they are unconscious, don’t make them tea. Unconscious people don’t want tea and can’t answer the question ‘do you want tea’ because they are unconscious.”
The video campaign, created by Blue Seat Studios, launched earlier this week as part of Thames Valley police’s #ConsentisEverything campaign. Check it out below:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zXju34Uwuys
“The law is very clear. Sex without consent is rape,” Detective chief inspector Justin Fletcher told The Guardian. “Awareness of what sexual consent means and how to get it is vital.”