This submission from 18 organisations, lawyers and academics, including Amnesty International, responds to the United Nations Special Rapporteur on violence against women and girls, its causes and consequences’ call for input to the addendum to her report to the Human Rights Council on the “concept of consent in relation to violence against women and girls”. The submission explores consent in the different ways it exists in law and its impact on marginalised and excluded communities, including sex workers, LGBTIQ+ persons, adolescents, and people with disabilities, among others. The submission reinforces an inclusive and empowering concept of ‘consent’, as conceptualised in the broader context of international law and standards beyond violence against women and girls.
