‘Doing things you don't wanna do’: young people's understandings of power inequalities and the implications for sexual consent

Legal definitions of sexual consent emphasise ‘freedom’ as central to valid consent; however, power inequalities may complicate freedom. This paper discusses findings from a two-stage focus group study with young people (aged 13–23) in England exploring the implications for consent. In Stage 1, 77 participants explored and ranked types they felt were common within people's relationships, age, gender popularity being identified most inequalities. 2, 43 discussed using scenarios based on 1 considered their Thematic analysis data produced two themes: powerless powerful roles communication implicitly constrain freedom Consent was constructed unidirectional process whereby those more initiate, less, gatekeep. Such require deconstruction position mutual actively negotiated by partners. Further, since seen place implicit constraints consent, we advocate an explicit exploration privilege Relationships Sex Education equip recognise, challenge negotiate these constraints.