Consent

One of the most significant aspects of safety is consent. It is also a way to minimize harm in communities, and works against settler colonial systems of extraction.

Harmful and insufficient approaches to consent often treat consent as a one-time thing that happens at the beginning of the program. When consent is asked for in this way, participants may not fully understand all the various aspects of something they are consenting to. Informed consent should be ongoing and people should always have the ability to change their minds. 

Aside from seeking consent at the beginning stages of a youth program - through permission slips and consent forms, in this section, we will think about what it might look like to build a culture of consent into your program.

Consent is an ongoing process! We ask for consent over and over and over again. 

Three Dimensions of Consent: 

We can look at consent through three dimensions:

1. Around bodies

   1. Consent in terms of the ways we might be interacting with peoples’ bodies (giving options when activities involve physical contact or touch), reconsidering activities that involve indirect physical contact (eg. tracing an outline of the body).

2. Around stories

   1. When people are sharing stories it is especially important to ask if it is okay to share someone’s story

   2. We are not going to take or share sad stories that people tell. We do not do that kind of narration of people’s lives in our work. 

3. Around the things that people make

   1. If things are made by a person or collective, we ask for consent to share what is being made. For example, with photographs, we ask for consent to take images of someone. For sound, we do not use found recordings or recordings we do not have permission for

Consent is a way to ensure safety in these dimensions. For your program, write down an example of how you might seek consent with each dimension:

1. In the ways we might be interacting with peoples’ bodies, eg. asking before we touch someone

2. For peoples’ stories, eg. ensuring that a participant is provided care if they have decided to stop sharing their story

3. For the things that people make in your program, eg. artwork, photographs, collaborative projects

When consent happens in a good way:

• What you are consenting to is very clear for you. In other words, there is no deception or surprises. Even when things change, participants are informed and given the opportunity to decide whether they want to continue

• There is no blurriness around what you are asking of a person. They should always know what we are talking about or asking for

• You want to be involved and you do not feel pressured or forced to make a particular decision

• It is ongoing, and people check-in with you in different phases of a thing to get your consent

• People have the option to say yes or no

• People pay attention to other non-verbal ways that you are using to say no

• People are not mad at you because you say no. There are NO negative consequences from your choice

• You can change your mind at any time without negative consequences

• You will notice! 

How else will you notice when consent is happening in ongoing and informed ways in your program? Eg. what might you see, hear, feel, etc.?

We can incorporate consent into every program and activity we do. 

How can you bring attention to moments around consent? Eg. we bring attention to the action of turning on a recorder or camera.