Consent: Voluntary and informed agreement to engage in a specific act, with a specific person or people. Consent must be given prior to the commencement of the act for which it is sought each and every time.

• Consent cannot be obtained by: pressure, threats, coercion, or force of any kind, whether mental or physical or from someone who is under the age of 18, unconscious, asleep, physically helpless, or incapacitated. A person is incapacitated when they are unable to make a rational decision because the person lacks the ability to understand their decision.
• Consent must be ongoing throughout a sexual encounter and can be revoked at any time.
• Consent means agreeing to the specific activity (e.g., agreeing to one sexual act does not equal agreement to another sexual act)
• Past consent does not imply ongoing or future consent.
• Consent to engage in sexual activity with one person does not imply consent to engage in sexual activity with another.
• Consent must be obtained prior to commencing the sexual activity; consent does not apply retroactively.

Affirmative Consent: A form of consent that requires clear and explicit agreement (“yes”); agreement cannot be inferred from the absence of a “no” or past consent.