What are better stories we could be telling about sex and relationships? Two years after The Age of Consent series, we reflect on previous episodes with Dr Laura Lammasniemi and how consent has come to be central to how we think about and legislate sex. We also speak to Jonny Hunt, author of 'Sex Ed for Grown-ups', about different ways we could talk about what happy, healthy, and ethical sex looks like, and chat to Dr Tina Sikka about an alternative approach to sexual justice that better captures the complex realities of sex. 

Dr Laura Lammasniemi @LLammasniemi

Jonny Hunt @littlerubberhat

Dr Tina Sikka @tsikka

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Are we imagining a world without rape, or are we imagining a world where every rapist is locked up? Dr Chloe Kennedy discusses her research on how we could tangibly refine our laws around consent to enable clearer boundaries around what constitutes ethical sex. In our final interview, Dr Tanya Serisier, questions whether the concept of consent actually enables sexual autonomy, or whether it in fact might hinder it

The way we legislate and think about consensual sex is flawed. How can we improve it? Dr Mithu Sanyal, discusses the importance of understanding where our biased views of consent come from, in order to be able to assess whether they actually chime with our beliefs. Jane Gilmore, journalist and activist describes her campaign to “fix” the way journalists report on rape, and stop perpetuating rape myths. Finally Dr Victoria Brooks poses the question: how can we create a new framework to think about the ethics of sex?