Consent culture. Maybe you've heard it, or even engaged with the idea; that each person has a right to their autonomy and can freely make choices that are respected.

For the most part it is hand in hand with discussions of rape culture and sexual health. These are important conversations. My only critique to that these discussions of consent can and should be included in all aspects of social justice. Let's make consent an actual culture.

So what does that mean? If you can still read (yes, I know you are rolling your eyes, have rolled them or will roll them, it's the universal guarantee for writing opinion pieces), I'm talking about the wild idea of everyone being able to make choices free of threats. What kind of threats? Racial, economic, and reproductive are the big ones that come to mind. And they are all intertwined- reproductive coercion can be economic, and that economic threat can be influenced by racism. To apply the theory of consent culture is to label threats as they are and put the responsibility of defanging on the proverbial wolves.

Threatened people have and do refuse threats to the best of their abilities. They know their autonomy and use it to protest trespasses. Consent culture is being taught and put forth by oppressed groups with daily resistance and survival. It's the responsibility of oppressors to learn these lessons and use knowledge of consent. Put simply, to engage on a level playing field.

We see these struggles for justice in all aspects of our lives. And the voice of many people speaks louder. We have groups like American Civil Liberties Union, Southern Poverty Law Center, Planned Parenthood, Standing Rock’s Water Protectors and Black Lives Matter that formed because of a need for justice. They refuse to be coerced and to give up agency. This is in part, possible from strength in unity, where people share a common cause and work cooperatively towards their goals.

Another discussion missing from consent culture is work. The private sector in America has no federal regulation for paid leave, family time, vacation and sick days. Workers often fear taking days off, between wage loss and threats of job loss. Economic threats at work make consent almost nonexistent with unprotected workers unable to consent without coercion. the threat of repercussion often create a stressful environment that becomes a feedback loop. Much of this stress and imbalance of consent can be mitigated with open dialogue with sincere parties. However these threats aren't unfounded and cause enough concern that legal protection feels warranted. Unions provide legal advocacy for workers, and allows management to empower their workers to become invested. In fact, unions close race and gender wage gaps.

Unions help achieve a culture of consent at work, where employees can sit down, vote one what matters to them and bring these issues to their employers with the intent of coming to a resolution. Beyond that, it creates a sustainable community. Economic justice is reproductive justice is racial justice. Support and engage in a culture that values consent.