Concept and implications of sexual consent for education: a systematic review of empirical studies

Abstract

The concept of sexual consent has received considerable attention in recent years. It is discussed in sexual violence prevention education, with a rapid increase in empirical studies. However, to make consent education effective, we have to understand the complex nature of sexual consent. To this end, we conducted a systematic review and analysis of the empirical studies on sexual consent and analyzed the factors that complicate sexual consent, to determine the implication for education. The empirical research on sexual consent was broadly categorized into “acts and beliefs” and “influencing factors” based on the research question, and the influencing factors were broadly categorized into “individual experience and personality,” “situation and environment,” and “social norms.” The acts and beliefs of sexual consent involve a variety of elements and influencing factors. In addition, the acts and beliefs between internal and external acts are inconsistent, and even the internal state of consent may be ambiguous. In consent education, we have to consider what can be an ethical act that shows and infers consent after acknowledging the ambiguity and complexity of consent.

Lay Summary

We reviewed empirical studies on sexual consent, and found that sexual consent involves a variety of elements and influencing factors. People may be conflicted between education that emphasizes the simplicity of consent and the complexity of a real consent. We have to consider the conflict in our sex education.

Keywords:

• sexual consent
• education
• sexual violence prevention

Acknowledgments

The authors thank Akira Akabayashi and members of the Department of Biomedical Ethics, The University of Tokyo for their valuable contribution to the completion of the study.

Declaration statement

The authors declare that they have no conflict of interest.

Funding

This study was not funded.

Geolocation information

This study is not limited to any particular region.

Data availability statement

There is no data set associated with the paper.

Additional information

Notes on contributors

Shoko Kubota

Shoko Kubota is a graduate student of Department of Biomedical Ethics, School of Public Health, The University of Tokyo (Japan). She received a bachelor’s degree of Humanities and Human sciences from Hokkaido University and completed the midwifery course from hygiene vocational school of Hokkaido. Her research interests are sexual consent, biomedical ethics of midwifery, and obstetrics.

Eisuke Nakazawa

Eisuke Nakazawa, PhD, is a lecturer in the Department of Biomedical Ethics at the University of Tokyo, Graduate School of Medicine (Japan). He received his doctorate in in Philosophy of Science from the University of Tokyo. His current research area is Biomedical Ethics, Neuroethics, and Philosophy of Science.