Undergraduate students’ understanding of sexual consent

Comprehensive education is suggested to play a significant role in educating youth about sexual conduct – particularly by mitigating sexual violence by fostering awareness of societal norms and attitudes that may perpetuate violence. Ontario set a precedent as the first province to explicitly incorporate the concept of sexual consent in its sex education curriculum. However, other provinces and territories have also integrated the notion of consent into their curriculum in the ensuing years. This thesis examines young adults' comprehension of sexual consent, exploring what they understand about consent, where they learn about it, and if the Ontario curriculum has had an impact on their current consent knowledge. The results of this study suggest that while the Ontario sex education curriculum provides a foundation for consent knowledge, it falls short in addressing its complexities. More specifically, the curriculum is lacking student engagement, real-world examples of how consent operates and overlooks important aspects, such as male victimization and sexual interactions beyond heteronormative assumptions. Participants also noted relying on sources outside of formal education to supplement their consent knowledge.

Name thesis:degree_name

Master of Arts (MA)

Discipline thesis:degree_discipline

Criminology

Grantor

University of Ontario Institute of Technology

Year dc:date.issued

2025

Author dc:creator

• Bieniak, Jessica

Advisor dc:contributor.advisor

• O'Connor, Christopher

Language dc:language.iso

en

Handle dc:identifier.uri

https://hdl.handle.net/10155/1914

OAI identifier oai:identifier

oai:ontariotechu.scholaris.ca:10155/1914