Thames Valley Police has launched a YouTube campaign discussing what sexual consent means using a brilliant tea analogy.
The campaign, titled Consent: It’s as Simple as Tea, is based on a blog by Emmeline May that was featured on HuffPost UK Lifestyle in March.
The blog links the act of accepting or rejecting a cup of tea to accepting or rejecting the offer of sex.
"You say 'hey, would you like a cup of tea?' and they go 'omg fuck yes, I would fucking LOVE a cup of tea! Thank you!*' then you know they want a cup of tea," May's original post reads.
"If you say 'hey, would you like a cup of tea?' and they um and ahh and say, 'I'm not really sure...' then you can make them a cup of tea or not, but be aware that they might not drink it, and if they don't drink it then - this is the important bit - don't make them drink it.
"You can't blame them for you going to the effort of making the tea on the off-chance they wanted it; you just have to deal with them not drinking it."
"If they are unconscious, don't make them tea. Unconscious people don't want tea and can't answer the question 'do you want tea' because they are unconscious."
In the Thames Valley Police video campaign, created by Blue Seat Studios, animations of stick people act out the words from May's original blog.
The campaign launched on Tuesday as part of Thames Valley police’s #ConsentisEverything campaign.
"The law is very clear. Sex without consent is rape," Detective chief inspector Justin Fletcher told The Guardian. "Awareness of what sexual consent means and how to get it is vital."