Consent on Campus - Challenging Gender Based Violence

The National Union of Students (NUS) in UK initiated a campaigned called ‘I Heart Consent’ in 2014 which aimed to raise awareness of consent and challenge myths around gender based violence. The campaign followed research conducted by the NUS which found that sexism and lad culture were pervasive on campuses. Using the NUS campaign slogan, the University of Northampton had a week of action to raise awareness at a local level. This involved cross disciplinary sessions as well as involvement form local organisations, such as Rape Crisis and an LGBTQ group. During the week, students were surveyed about their perceptions and understanding of issues around sexual consent. There has been very little in depth research looking specifically at the perceptions and attitudes of consent amongst students. This paper will therefore explore perceptions within a case study following extensive surveying of students. The research is interdisciplinary, involving both law and psychology, and the results will have practical applications and will be used to inform policy, practice and systems within Higher Education to provide support for students disclosing incidents of sexual violence and sexism. The results will also be used to improve existing campaigns and developing new ones which seek to address perceptions of consent within Higher Education.