Consent is a clear “yes” to sexual activity. Not saying “no” does not mean you have given consent. Sexual contact without consent is sexual assault or rape.

Your consent means:

• You know and understand what is going on (you are not unconscious, blacked out, asleep, underage, or have an intellectual disability).

• You know what you want to do.

• You are able to say what you want to do or don’t want to do.

• You are aware that you are giving consent (and are not impaired by alcohol or drugs).

Sometimes you cannot give legal consent to sexual activity or contact — for example, if you are:

• Threatened, forced, coerced, or manipulated into agreeing

• Not physically able to (you are drunk, high, drugged, passed out, or asleep)

• Not mentally able to (due to illness or disability)

• Under the age of legal consent, which varies by state.

Remember:

• Consent is an ongoing process, not a one-time question. If you consent to sexual activity, you can change your mind and choose to stop at any time, even after sexual activity has started.

• Past consent does not mean future consent. Giving consent in the past to sexual activity does not mean your past consent applies now or in the future.

• Saying “yes” to a sexual activity is not consent for all types of sexual activity. If you consent to sexual activity, it is only for types of sexual activities that you are comfortable with at that time with that partner. For example, giving consent for kissing does not mean you are giving consent for someone to remove your clothes.

U.S. Dept. of Health & Human Services Office on Women's Health 

Sexual coercion is unwanted sexual activity that happens after being pressured in nonphysical ways that include:

• Being worn down by someone who repeatedly asks for sex

• Being lied to or being promised things that weren’t true to trick you into having sex

• Having someone threaten to end a relationship or spread rumors about you if you don’t have sex with them

• Having an authority figure, like a boss, property manager, loan officer, or professor, use their influence or authority to pressure you into having sex

In a healthy relationship, you never have to have sexual contact when you don’t want to. Sexual contact without your consent is assault. Sexual coercion means feeling forced to have sexual contact with someone.

U.S. Dept. of Health & Human Services Office on Women's Health 

Sexual assault is any type of sexual activity or contact that you do not consent to. Sexual assault can happen through physical force or threats of force or if the attacker gave the victim drugs or alcohol as part of the assault. Sexual assault includes rape and sexual coercion. In the United States, one in three women has experienced some type of sexual violence.1 If you have been sexually assaulted, it is not your fault, regardless of the circumstances.

U.S. Dept. of Health & Human Services Office on Women's Health 

Intimate partner violence describes physical, sexual, or psychological harm by a current or former intimate partner or spouse. 

Types of intimate partner violence include physical violence, sexual violence, threats of physical or sexual violence, psychological/emotional violence, and stalking. 

National Institute of Justice

Rape is defined for Summary UCR (Uniform Crime Reporting) purposes as, “Penetration, no matter how slight, of the vagina or anus with any body part or object, or oral penetration by a sex organ of another person, without the consent of the victim.”

FBI: Uniform Crime Reporting (UCR)