My Sisters' Place Answers the All-Important Question: What Is Consent?

Lawline recently welcomed My Sisters’ Place (MSP) into our studio, helping MSP to record groundbreaking videos in support of their mission to eradicate domestic violence and human trafficking. We learned a great deal about the invaluable work that MSP executes day in and day out, and were thrilled to support their community education programming.

My Sisters' Place is a full-service agency that provides direct services to victims of domestic violence, sexual assault, dating violence, stalking and human trafficking, while advocating for substantive change in the law and public policy.

One of the important lessons that MSP Community Educator Talia Baurer shared during her time in the studio: understanding and obtaining consent is one of the first steps to preventing intimate violence. But what exactly is consent? As Talia puts it in the video below, “one of the things that I hear most often is consent defined as permission. And that’s not untrue, but it’s just not the full story.” So what’s a better way to think about consent? According to Talia, think of consent as being about agreement, which as every first year law student knows, involves two or more people who decide on something together.

For more on the definition of consent, check out MSP’s helpful overview here: 

Looking to get more involved? Volunteer with MSP or check out these inspiring programs on criminal justice advocacy and litigation remedies for human trafficking survivors.