Complicating consent: How to support sex workers

We chant it on the streets, we hear it in workshops, we print it on tote bags, stickers, t-shirts. Whatever we wear, wherever we go, yes means yes and no means no. This phrase has come to define a generation’s understanding of sex. It’s a necessary attempt to reclaim our agency and autonomy. It is a rallying cry that affirms that women are not responsible for the violence that is inflicted on them and that if only men would pay attention, listen for a sign, stay attentive to body language, it could be avoided. It is an angry chant; it