“There can be no place for any forms of sexual violence and harassment in our society, and there can be no room for doubt or ambiguity on the meaning and importance of consent.”
This is the view of Fine Gael Galway West TD, and Minister of State at the Department of Justice, Hildegarde Naughton, who was speaking at the launch of the Consent Information Hub - the new online learning resource for third level students and staff on the issue of sexual consent.
Sexual consent is consent to engage in sexual activity. Sexual activity without consent is considered rape or other sexual assault.
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Improving understanding
The hub, which was developed by Minister Naughton and Minister Harris’s departments, in partnership with NUI Galway, was launched this morning by the Minister for Further and Higher Education, Simon Harris, and Minister Naughton, as part of Minister Harris’s visit to Galway city.
For students, the hub will provide an online/live consent workshop; an eLearning resource on consent, sexual violence, and harassment; and ongoing social media engagement into topics such as disclosure. For staff, it will provide information on awareness; the promotion of consent; and training.
“We must improve people’s understanding of what consent is,” said Minister Naughton [pictured below], “and what healthy consent looks like. This initiative will be an excellent resource for the third level sector and beyond.”
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The hub will go live during the coming academic year, with further elements rolled out in 2022. It is also part of the Department of Further and Higher Education’s ‘Supporting a Victim’s Journey: A plan for vulnerable witnesses in sexual violence cases’.
“No part of our society is untouched by sexual violence and harassment,” said Minister Harris. “People need to be safe, empowered, confident, and capable in their relationships. Ireland can take a leading role in confronting sexual violence and harassment.
A 'positive educator'
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“The work being done in our higher education sector on consent can be a positive educator for other areas, and this online learning hub will provide an important resource not only for our higher education institutions, but also for a wider community.”
Dr Padraig MacNeela, of the Active Consent programme said NUI Galway will work with the Galway Rape Crisis Centre and Rape Crisis Network Ireland to “create the resources we need to have a culture of consent in our colleges, schools, and communities”.
