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This £5 note metaphor is the perfect way to explain rape and consent to someone who doesn't understand

Picture: Peter Macdiarmid/Getty Images
Picture: Peter Macdiarmid/Getty Images

Whether it's because they're sadly misinformed or wilfully ignorant, the fact remains that in 2016 there are still an awful lot of people out there who aren't clear on what constitutes rape.

Cue Nafisa Ahmed, who has come up with the most crystal clear way to explain consent since the 'would you like a cup of tea?' analogy.

Speaking to indy100, Ahmed said that she uses the metaphor in private conversations all the time - but she was motivated to post it publicly on Twitter because of recent high profile rape cases involving black men, and the respectability politics debate that has surfaced as a result.

Ahmed said she was surprised by how much the posts resonated with people:

I didn't expect for my 'thread' to get this type of exposure and attention whatsoever... In fact, I thought there was something wrong with my phone when my mentions first blew up.

Imagine, Ahmed says, someone has a $5 bill in her purse, and they've been drinking: That wouldn't give you the right to steal it anyway.

Using a physical or emotional threat wouldn't mean it was freely given either.

And it doesn't matter whether someone has been generous with money in the past.

Or whether they've let anyone else borrow $5.

Being asked if you can hold a bag does not mean you can invite yourself to its contents.

And just because it can't be proven later doesn't mean you didn't steal it.

There is literally no way this metaphor can be misunderstood.

Well said.

More: This furious open letter expresses what many women have been thinking about the Stanford rape case

More: Everyone should see these cartoons about how society treats sexual consent

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