ERIC Number: EJ1466705
Record Type: Journal
Publication Date: 2025
Pages: 17
Abstractor: As Provided
ISBN: N/A
ISSN: ISSN-1468-1811
EISSN: EISSN-1472-0825
Available Date: 0000-00-00
'It's Complicated': Young People's Views on the Complexity of Asking for Consent and the Role for Sex and Relationships Education
Sophie G. E. Kedzior1; Alice R. Rumbold1,2; Nathan Manning3,4; Helen Calabretto5; Zohra S. Lassi1; Vivienne M. Moore1,3,6
Sex Education: Sexuality, Society and Learning, v25 n2 p273-289 2025
There is emerging evidence that young people have a good understanding of consent as a concept, but this does not align with real world practices. The perspectives of young people on the complexities of enacting consent are lacking, as are their views on the role of sex and relationships education. This study explored the topic of consent with 18 young people aged 14-20 years through interviews conducted in South Australia. Interviews were recorded, transcribed, and coded, with four over-arching themes progressively developed through reflexive thematic analysis. Participants had a sound understanding of consent in the abstract and emphasised the importance of explicit verbal communication; however, consent was unlikely to reflect this in practice. In real-life, consent was embedded in social contexts replete with non-verbal cues, in which gendered sexual scripts dominated sexual interaction. Participants made recommendations for making formal sex and relationships education more relevant and useful.
Descriptors: Consent, Adolescents, Late Adolescents, Attitudes, Knowledge Level, Verbal Communication, Sexuality, Nonverbal Communication, Foreign Countries, Sex Education, Interpersonal Relationship, Sexual Abuse, Violence, Age Differences, Interpersonal Competence, Familiarity, Individual Characteristics, Sex Stereotypes, Popular Culture
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Publication Type: Journal Articles; Reports - Research
Education Level: N/A
Audience: N/A
Language: English
Sponsor: N/A
Authoring Institution: N/A
Identifiers - Location: Australia
Grant or Contract Numbers: N/A
Author Affiliations: 1Robinson Research Institute, The University of Adelaide, Adelaide, Australia; 2Women and Kids Theme, South Australian Health and Medical Research Institute, Adelaide, Australia; 3Fay Gale Centre for Research on Gender, The University of Adelaide, Adelaide, Australia; 4Department of Sociology, Criminology and Gender Studies, The University of Adelaide, Adelaide, Australia; 5SHINE SA, Adelaide, Australia; 6School of Public Health, The University of Adelaide, Adelaide, Australia