The Consent Revolution, organized by the Dove Center and co-hosted with Garrett College last Thursday, featured frank talk about what consent means in relation to sexual activity.
“We created such good conversations,” said Chelsie Warnick, the Dove Center’s transitional housing coordinator. Warnick said she was pleased to see “so many students talking within their friends group about what consent meant to them.”
The Consent Revolution was scheduled to coincide with April’s designation as Sexual Assault Awareness Month.
Tiffany Keller, the Dove Center’s school outreach specialist with Garrett College, said “sexual assault prevention is our No. 1 driver, but we also want to provide students with support for their relationships.”
Keller noted informed consent should be seen as a continuous dynamic process rather than an isolated event. One of the handouts available to attendees was titled Consent Questions & Care, and provided a list of questions individuals could ask themselves about consent and care before, during, and after sexual activity.
Shelley Menear, Garrett College’s director of compliance, noted that the Maryland Coalition Against Sexual Assault estimates that 1-in-8 college students are sexually assaulted while in college.
“The Dove Center always finds such creative ways to engage the students, and even employees, in educating on healthy relationships,” said Menear.
The Dove Center’s mission is to provide “safety, advocacy, and counseling to individuals whose lives have been shattered by domestic violence and/or sexual assault” while working to expand public awareness of those issues.
