One in five teenage boys in Ireland do not believe there should be consent before engaging in sexual activities with someone, found a new research. The National University of Ireland, Galway conducted the research by surveying more than 600 students aged between ages of 15 and 17 including both boys and girls, and the results turned out to be largely different from each group’s perspective.
While 93% of the girls responded that the consent is necessary, only 79% of the boys responded the same. 21% that is one in five boys do not realize the need for consent before engaging in sexual acts.
In terms of types of consents, 58% of boys said verbal consent was necessary while 67% girls indicated the importance of verbal consent before sexual acts.
The difference in the view points between boys and girls can be seen as a social problem as some boys do not think consent is necessary. This is an indicator of the sexual crimes in the society and stresses the need for proper sex education in schools.
The researches also said that the word ‘no’ was seen important by the students where majority of them didn’t believe indirect comments or reluctant body language was a strong signal of denial of consent. Means saying ‘NO’ is very important in such situations rather than just showing hesitation.
More than 90 per cent of teenagers overall agreed there was a need to talk about sexual consent even in a relationship, while 98 per cent of students said it was okay to say “no” to unwanted sexual activity.