Consent

Consent is the agreement between all participants to engage in a specific activity. RACK encourages informed consent: all participants should be aware of their personal risks before they consent to a scene. This includes physical injuries, exposure to sexually transmitted infections, and emotional, social, and legal dangers. Even if a bad event is unlikely, talking about the consequences allows each person to decide if they are willing to accept the risks and to take actions to reduce them.

Properties of consent in RACK

Valid consent is:

Informed

All parties must understand what they are agreeing to, including risks.

Freely given

Consent cannot be given under coercion, manipulation, or undue pressure.

Reversible

Any participant may withdraw consent at any time, for any reason.

Specific

Consent to one activity does not imply consent to another.

Ongoing

Consent given before a scene does not automatically extend throughout it.

Consent violations

A consent violation occurs when an activity takes place that was not agreed to, a limit is crossed, or a safeword or signal is ignored. Consent violations range in severity from accidental miscommunication to deliberate boundary-crossing.

Consensual non-consent]

Main article: Consensual non-consent