Promoting positive sexual culture through gender-sensitive conceptualizations of consent

Sexual assault continues to be a pervasive problem in the US and constitutes an important public health issue via its inextricable link to negative sexual and other health outcomes. Despite decades of prevention education, rates of sexual assault have yet to decline. As a mechanism to address high rates of sexual assault, many colleges and universities have implemented educational initiatives aimed at preventing or reducing rates of sexual assault. However, most of these initiatives tend to highlight techniques aimed at limiting women's sexual autonomy as a means of reducing rates of sexual assault. In contrast, college men have been encouraged and taught through explicit and implicit messages and via gender role socialization that in order to achieve a sexual conquest they need to act as the sexual initiator, dictate possible variables surrounding the sexual interaction and obtain sexual intercourse at all costs. Instead, alternative initiatives for sexual assault prevention education which include promoting proactive and enthusiastic consent for women and men may be beneficial not only to decrease rates of sexual assault, but to work toward enhancing individuals' sexual experiences. This presentation will highlight male models of sexuality that may rationalize violence and coercion against women, and discuss how such models are not only ineffective but also limiting for men. We will also theorize how sexual assault prevention initiatives could be improved through the conceptualization of more affirmative models of sexual violence prevention that highlight the need for consensual, pleasurable sexual encounters for individuals of all genders.