Introducing: Unconsenting Media

By Rose Payne

CN: Sexual assault, rape

In a world that has a website where you can find out if a dog dies in a film (doesthedogdie.com – a brilliant website), I’ve always wondered, why isn’t there something similar for instances of rape or sexual assault?

Way too many times I’ve been relaxing watching TV or something when suddenly I’m confronted with an unexpected graphic violation of consent. I think this would be upsetting for anyone, but for many people it can have a huge effect on their mental or physical wellbeing.

With that in mind, I decided to set up Unconsenting Media. The project is in the form of a google document, editable by anyone, to provide a database of media (film, TV, books, theatre etc.), which contains scenes or mentions of consent-related issues which could be upsetting.

Now that I’ve made it, I’d absolutely love it if it could be as comprehensive as possible – so please keep adding any media that you can think of. You don’t have to be a survivor yourself at all to help add to this database, any additions of potentially triggering material would be much appreciated. It’s also important that it’s shared around, so that it can reach anyone who might need it (aka everyone – you never know who might be affected).

This isn’t about boycotting or even avoiding particular media, or about *spoilers*, it’s about making life a bit easier for an already vulnerable group by giving a heads up so that they can decide whether they want to continue watching. I think that everyone should be able to see the sense in that.

Check out the database and add to it by clicking here.

Rose Payne is a finalist at St John’s, and Head of Strategy for Cambridge for Consent.

Header image by Fundación Karisma Colombia