No doesn’t just mean no

No means respect my choices
No means respect my boundaries
No means respect my body

No means I have my reasons for not wanting to have sex with you

Those reasons could be:

No, I do not trust you enough to consent to sexual interaction
No, I do not feel comfortable to have sex with you
No, I do not feel that we have developed our ability to  communicate effectively enough to have sex
No, I do not feel that I relate to you mentally in the way I want to before having sex with you
No, I do not have feelings for you or feel emotionally attached to you enough to want to have sex with you
No, I do not feel that you are present because of my mind, or character and so no, I do not want to have sex with you

I do not need to give you the reason behind my NO but it’s as a courtesy that I am sharing with you that No does not just mean No.

No means you do not have the right to touch me
No means you do not have the right to force yourself upon me
No means keep your hands to yourself and give me my space
No means it is not okay to keep on kissing and caressing me in hopes that I change my mind
No means take a deep breath and control your urges No means leave me alone and remove yourself from my space if you cannot control yourself

No doesn’t just mean no

No means that I am communicating to you that I do not give my consent to having sexual relations with you
No means I do not want you to continue pursuing me sexually
No means no it is not okay to continue sexually pursuing me once I have said no, that is harassment
No means no it’s not okay to run your hands down my curves without consent, that is sexual assault
No means no it is not okay to forcefully penetrate me against my will, that is rape

No doesn’t just mean no

No means respect my choices
No means respect my boundaries
No means respect my body

No does mean if you touch me after I say no, I will press charges
You will be barred from working with children, youth and vulnerable adults
I will personally ensure that you are trialled and convicted rightfully,
Because I will be the last victim you ever have.

No. Does. NOT. Just. Mean. No!

Your Vice President Health, Social Care & Education, Jaudat Alogba, is working with Middlesex University to combat sexual misconduct within the University community. Jaudat has created a survey to gauge a sense of the prevalence of sexual misconduct at the University, including perceptions and experiences of reporting incidents as well as students' understanding of sexual misconduct and consent. We're really keen to hear from as many students as possible, collecting your feedback, comments, thoughts and experiences - all of which will help us to identify specific changes or improvements that the University or Students' Union can make.

You can complete the survey here, and it should take between 15-30 minutes to complete - all submissions are anonymous and we value any input you can give. This survey will close on Sunday 30th January 2022.