What Is An Affirmative Consent Kit? No, You Don't Need Photos To Prove 'Yes Means Yes"

Right now for the low, low price of $2.49, you, too, can get your own Consent Conscious Kit! This handy-dandy bag comes in faux suede or canvas, and comes with all you need for a night of passion. Just open the bag, sign the contract and snap a photo of you -- and your partner -- before doing it!

Wait, what?

The kits, created by the Affirmative Consent Project, are a response to affirmative consent policies that colleges across the country have adopted.

Affirmative consent policies -- otherwise known as "Yes means yes" -- have been enacted across the country in an attempt to stem sexual assaults on campus. New York recently pushed private colleges to adopt the "yes means yes" policies, following the adoption of such polices across the nation last year. The University of Minnesota is also set to adopt a similar policy.

The Affirmative Consent Projects' store says the kits "make it easy for you to change the conversation." Kits include everything you need for a romantic encounter, including a condom, breath mints, a "consent sex contract" and pen.

But not everyone sees this as a positive development.

Some have used the kit as an opportunity to question how to prove consent and to suggest that taking photos isn't enough to prove consent. Still, it does sound like a solid way to keep your exes in order.

The definition of affirmative consent, as adopted by the State University of New York, reads, in part:

Affirmative consent is a clear, unambiguous, knowing, informed and voluntary agreement between all participants to engage in sexual activity. Consent is active, not passive. Silence or lack of resistance cannot be interpreted as consent.

It goes on to say, "Consent may be initially given but withdrawn at any time," and that an intoxicated person cannot give consent.

Others have argued that the point of affirmative consent is to make sure that both parties are "excited about the encounter" and shifting away from stereotypical views that men should be the aggressors in a sexual situation. Moreover, affirmative consent means that participants must give verbal consent, rather than consent being assumed if the individual doesn't say "no."

With or without a picture, though, any sexual assault case is likely to come down to a "he said, she said" debate. The goal of required verbal confirmation is to undercut arguments of "She didn't say no." Verbal confirmation would give both parties the opportunity to object.

Photographs, however, are still optional.