585 freshers attended consent workshops run by Trinity College Dublin Students’ Union (TCDSU) in Trinity Hall this week.
Rachel Skelly, the Graduate Intern for Sexual Consent Education and Development told Trinity News that efforts have been made to make the scenarios included in the workshops this year more inclusive, including more scenarios that involve people from different religious backgrounds and LGBT+ students.
Skelly says that they are reaching out to “students who otherwise might not feel as able to engage in the content as others by trying to make the scenarios that we are talking about relevant to them so they feel included in the discussion”.
She explained that these additions are “natural changes that are happening as culture changes”.
The workshops have also been adjusted so that the topic of “grey areas” in consent will be integrated into other sections within the workshop rather than having its own separate section. This is an effort to “solidify the topic of grey areas within consent as a whole” as well as “bringing more clarity to the workshops and make them more concise”.
Speaking to Trinity News, TCDSU Welfare Officer Aisling Leen explained that the changes to the workshops were made to “refine the content from last year, making sure that everything we teach is relevant”.
12 sets of workshops were run over the course of four days in Trinity Hall, having begun on Saturday August 31 as first years moved into Halls. Workshops were run on the Wednesday of Freshers’ Week for the first time as a precaution following concern that Electric Picnic would lead to reduced attendance over the weekend.
