Dr Caroline West: We need to normalise discussions on consent

Although sexual violence can be perpetrated and experienced by any gender and sexuality, there are some gender gaps that highlight how important consent education is for all young people. 

It is crucial to see consent education available to second-level students as well as third-level students. File photo

One of the most frequent responses from over 4,000 students who took part in Active* Consent workshops at third level is that they wished their sex education in secondary school had been more inclusive of topics such as consent. 

The review of secondary level sex education curriculum in Ireland by the National Council for Curriculum & Assessment (NCCA) in 2019 also found that many students had requested consent education to be included.