Complex Consent Issues
Episode Description
In this episode of Talking about Methods, Professor Linda Mulcahy talks to Dr Ellie Whittingdale about complex consent issues. She tells us about the practice of consent seeking during an oral history project with the Rape Crisis England & Wales movement. Ellie shows us why one should understand consent not as a tick box exercise but as an ongoing process. She talks about the importance of taking into account the context of sexual violence, where people have often been silenced. We learn why it’s essential to take the time and space to answer questions from participants, what happens when people withdraw, and what aftercare can look like.
Readings recommended by Ellie Whittingdale
- Anderson, K. and Jack, D. C. 1991. ‘Learning to Listen: Interview Techniques and Analyses’. In: S. Berger Gluck and D, Patai (eds), Women’s Words: The Feminist Practice of Oral History. Routledge, pp. 17-34.
- Letherby, G. 2003. Feminist Research in Theory and Practice. Open University Press (When discussing Letherby’s text in the episode, Ellie was very much inspired by conversations with Dr Anna Cole, the Heritage Lead at Rape Crisis England & Wales, concerning consent, representation, and writing up oral history interviews.’ )
- Tsalapatanis, A. 2021. ‘“Doing” Ethics: Ethical Approval and Signature Fetishism’. Frontiers of Socio-Legal Studies.
About the Speaker
Dr. Ellie Whittingdale
Postdoctoral Researcher , Oxford Centre for Socio-Legal Studies
Dr Ellie Whittingdale is a Postdoctoral Researcher at the Oxford Centre for Socio-Legal Studies. She is currently working with Professor Linda Mulcahy on an oral history project tracing the English and Welsh Rape Crisis movement, in partnership with Rape Crisis England & Wales and for deposit with National Life Stories, at the British Library. Ellie is passionate about socio-legal studies, feminist and queer legal theory, and access to justice.