Consent Matters / Le Consentement Compte / Toestemming Telt
In Belgium today, the question of consent is more than a matter of criminal law. It represents a social reckoning — a cultural and systemic shift centred on dignity, equality, and respect. Behind every statistic is a story, a silence, a moment where protection or understanding was missing.
The Centre for Law and Transformative Change (CLTC), in partnership with Latham & Watkins LLP, is advancing the Consent Matters Project, transforming the law from an abstract idea into a lived practice.
Belgium’s 2022 criminal law reform replaced the outdated focus on resistance with a clear principle: consent must be freely given, specific, informed, and reversible. Silence is not consent. Pressure, intoxication, fear, or coercion invalidate it. Digital sexual offences — including non-consensual image sharing and deepfakes — are now explicitly criminalised.
The reform also recognises adolescents as rights-holders with agency, clarifying protections against abuse while safeguarding consensual peer relationships. Belgium now has one of Europe’s most progressive frameworks. Yet even the most enlightened law can only fulfil its promise when young people understand it.
The Urgency
A 2021 national study by the University of Liège, Ghent University, and Belgium’s National Institute of Criminalistics and Criminology revealed stark realities:
- 64% of respondents had experienced sexual violence in their lifetime.
- 81% of women, 48% of men, and 80% of LGBTQ+ respondents identified as victims.
- Fewer than 4% of survivors ever report to the police.
- Nearly half of Belgian men still believe that “ambiguous behaviour” may be interpreted as consent.
These figures reflect deep gaps in empathy, communication, and education. The law alone cannot change this — but education can. Consent Matters exists to make that shift possible.
Bringing the Law to Life
Consent Matters / Le Consentement Compte / Toestemming Telt is a three-year pilot embedding legal literacy on consent into Belgian secondary schools and youth culture at scale.
The project frames legal knowledge not as abstraction or punishment, but as empowerment and prevention. It supports a culture where respect, dignity, and autonomy are understood, protected, and practised.
Its central approach is simple: trained lawyers step out of courtrooms and into classrooms. Working in French, Dutch, German, and English, they deliver a rights-based, experiential curriculum for adolescents aged 14 to 18. Young people learn not only what the law says, but how to live it — in friendships, relationships, and online interactions.
Lessons are participatory and trauma-informed. They combine legal understanding with reflection, dialogue, and applied learning.
How the Project Works
The project creates systemic and sustainable impact through interconnected outcomes:
Legal curriculum in secondary schools. Interactive workshops introduce a multilingual, rights-based programme on consent, digital safety, and bodily autonomy. Thousands of adolescents will be reached during the pilot. All materials will become open access, allowing educators and youth groups nationwide to adapt and use them.
Pro bono legal facilitators. Lawyers trained in safeguarding and trauma-aware teaching support schools as mentors and facilitators, creating a national roster beyond the pilot stage. The project redefines the lawyer’s role, positioning legal professionals as agents of social change.
Youth-led outreach. Law students and youth advocates lead a grassroots awareness campaign, placing consent education in schools, cafés, nightclubs, and public transport hubs. Creative materials ensure Belgium’s consent laws become visible and accessible.
Digital engagement. A vibrant campaign on Instagram, Meta, TikTok, and YouTube brings accurate, youth-friendly consent information into the online spaces where adolescents spend their time. Interactive videos, myth-busting reels, and real-time discussions support a culture of respect in digital environments.
Together, these components align systems change with youth-led momentum. The project institutionalises pro bono legal education, publishes open-access resources, and complements national and EU policy agendas. Consent Matters is designed for long-term sustainability — scalable, adaptable, and community-rooted.
Belgium is setting a European benchmark for a future in which consent is understood, respected, and lived by all.
Join the Movement: Partner With Us
Consent Matters is more than a project. It is a movement.
CLTC invites schools, youth organisations, legal professionals, funders, and community partners to collaborate in advancing a culture of consent, dignity, and protection across Belgium and beyond.
Support the Project
Your support helps bring legal empowerment directly to young people across Belgium.
- Sponsor workshops in Belgian schools.
- Support youth-led outreach and creative campaigns.
- Enable open-access materials for nationwide use.
Project Slogans