The POWER of CONSENT
an interactive performance with guided conversations raising awareness about sexual assault on college campuses.The POWER OF CONSENT: Empowering Students to Prevent Campus Assault is an interactive performance with guided conversations designed to raise awareness about the prevalence and prevention of sexual assault on college campuses. This program prepares both male and female students, parents and campus communities for safe and healthy university experiences.
In every PICTURE THIS Program, we identify three (3) takeaways we strive to express to our audience. For POWER of CONSENT, these takeaways are:
1 — Bystanders and witnesses are empowered to prevent potential sexual assault for both men and women
2 — Power dynamics are an important factor when reporting (or choosing not to report) sexual assault on campus
3 — Consent in a sexual relationship is specific; there’s power behind relationships where proper consent is utilized and it’s demonstrated by these factors:
- Consent is explicit
- Consent is continuous
- Consent can be revoked at any time
- Consent is enthusiastic
- Consent is location and time and occurrence specific
- Consent is required at each step of sexual contact
- Consent is about communication
- Each person commands their own body autonomy at all times
- Not saying “no” is not the same as saying an enthusiastic “yes.”
These performances are made possible with the financial support of Planned Parenthood Advocates of Indiana & Kentucky and the educational guidance of Planned Parenthood of Indiana & Kentucky.
Gifts of all sizes make a difference. Here’s how.
High Five
Show your support by offering the cast and team a high five.
Students
Support a student’s program attendance, now or in the future.
Resources
Provide takeaways to learn beyond the performance.
Campus Outreach
Provide program outreach materials for an entire campus to increase interest and awareness around consent.
The Facilitator
Ensure a facilitator trained in trauma reenactment processing leads the show.
The Cast
Underwrite a cast of professionally-trained PICTURE THIS trauma reenactment actors for the one-hour show.
Our Sponsors & Partners
Sapphire’s Commitment to Diversity & Inclusion
The Sapphire Theatre Company welcomes diverse individuals with disabilities to all of our programs.
To ask for additional information or request an accommodation, please call or email our organization.
Additional Resources
September is National Campus Safety Awareness Month.
What’s the definition of consent?
“Consent is when a person freely agrees to something. When it comes to sex, consent is mandatory, every time.” — Planned Parenthood’s “All About Consent” Information Page
What’s the definition of sexual assault?
“If you don’t consent to sex and someone forces you to do something sexual, this is sexual assault, abuse, and/or rape.” — Planned Parenthood’s “Sexual Assault, Abuse & Rape” Information Page
Why is awareness about campus sexual assault necessary?
Universities struggle with this the problem of campus sexual assault (CSA). Unfortunately, they are strongly incentivized to pretend there isn’t a problem, or that the problem is less significant than it really is. Fortunately, that’s changing with national attention and demands for action.
“Although headlines capture the best- and worst- of the field, there’s one thing the Clery Center knows to be true: people don’t function well in fear; individuals make the best decisions when they are informed, offered support, and are confident in their knowledge and skills.” @CleryCenter/NCSAM
What we know about preventing campus sexual assault
The United States Department of Justice’s “What We Know About Preventing Sexual Assault on Campus” article highlights many important findings. Central to piece is The Center for Changing Our Campus Culture’s recently published guide relating to sexual assault. It lays out the goals for preventing and responding and describes steps to take to achieve those goals. The Center based the guide on the lessons learned from the Center’s 20 years of campus-based efforts made possible by the Violence Against Women Act.
The three goals outlined in the Center’s guide are as follows:
* Seek broad campus and community engagement.
* Put interventions in place that have been proven to be effective.
* Reduce gender-based violence on campus.
To achieve the three goals, the guide suggests following a three-phased structure and provides sample planning documents, resources and tools to use at each phase. The three phases may guide institutions through each goal from beginning to end to ensure a comprehensive, sustainable response.
Phase 1: Plan and prepare. Focus on building a foundation by assessing the current situation and drafting strategic plans.
Phase 2: Implement. Put into place the plans developed in phase 1 while staying in close contact with all the teams who were involved in the planning.
Phase 3: Correct the course and sustain the program. Routinely evaluate progress and evolving needs and adjust plans and implementation accordingly.