Teaching Consent in Your Classroom

Disclaimer: We acknowledge that there are many different words that individuals use to describe themselves after experiencing sexual assault. In this article, we use the term ‘survivor’ for the sake of consistency. We acknowledge that there are many different ways of processing sexual violence, and we believe each individual person should choose the language that…

Overview of Virginity Pledges

Virginity pledges are typically taken by teenagers and young adults who promise to remain abstinent from sexual activity until marriage. Programs promoting virginity pledges began within fundamentalist Christian circles in the United States, but the idea has gained traction in the mainstream, and a number of nonreligious sources (including some public school sex education programs)…

Abstinence

Abstinence is the decision to refrain from sexual behavior. However, since the term “sexual behavior” is defined differently by various people, societies, cultures, religions, and regions, it is difficult to draw an absolute line distinguishing which acts are considered “sexual behaviors.” What is important to recognize is that there is no “right” way to define abstinence….