CONSENT ED CAMPAIGN
In the 2021/22 academic year, the LSESU spearheaded the ‘Consent.Ed’ programme. The consent education campaign was launched during the Welcome period and then proceeded to extend past Welcome and into the 2020 Michaelmas term. However the origins of the project date back for many years with there being an ongoing conversation about sexual and gender based violence prevention and consent education amongst the LSE student population since at least 2017. The execution of this project began as a student motion by Laura Goodard (LSESU Community and Welfare Officer 2020-21) who started Hands-Off LSE (student-led campaign group).
TRAINING
The programme consists of a short online course for pre-arrival and a 1.5 hour in-person workshop in specific Halls of Residences and on the LSE campus. The in-perso n sessions are facilitated by LSE students, trained by LSESU on how to facilitate consent workshops to their peers.
GOALS
The goals of the ‘Consent.Ed’ programme are:
- To prevent sexual and gender-based violence and create a consent culture at LSE.
- Provide a comprehensive understanding on the topic of consent that is relevant for a
university setting.
- Have a focus on active bystander intervention and therefore equip students with
knowledge on how to handle situations where consent might be violated and how to
support members of their community.
- Educate students on the support available to them both at LSE and beyond.
Consent.Ed workshops are therefore designed to equip students to be an active bystander, inform students about the support available at LSE and beyond, and comprehensively educate students on the topic of consent.
HOW THE CAMPAIGN HAS CHANGED THE STUDENT EXPERIENCE
As a result of the positive response to the campaign, completion of ‘Consent.Ed’ is now mandatory for admission into ‘Carol’ for core committee members of clubs and societies and first-year undergraduates. For second and third year UGs the online training is compulsory for attendance of Carol.
Since ‘Consent.Ed’ was implemented, research produced by students through the Change Makers Research Programme reflected on consent education at LSE and also the impact of the ‘Consent.Ed’ campaign on LSE students.
‘Consent.Ed’ also acknowledged student concerns about safety and spiking across the UK and collaborated with a LSESU campaign group called ‘Hands Off LSE’ to discuss student concerns and for the SU to communicate our current and newer spiking safety measures in the SU ‘Three Tuns’ bar.
GETTING INVOLVED
Complete the Online Training