Embed iframe src "https://www.npr.org/player/embed/972452455/973528734" width "100%" height "290" frameborder "0" scrolling "no" title "NPR embedded audio player" Source: Kara Frame and Becky Harlan/NPR In 2015, the Thames Valley Police in the U.K. released a video that went viral, comparing sexual consent to tea. You wouldn't force someone to drink a cup of tea and you wouldn't pour tea down a sleeping person's throat, they reasoned, so why would you do the same with sex? "Whether it's tea or sex," the video summed up, "consent is everything." Many of us have heard the phrases "no means no" or "yes means yes." These phrases are short and catchy, easy to remember. But they can't really capture the complexity of what it means to consent to sexual activity or touch. They imply that consent is a transaction, something one "gets" and it's all good to go. But it's not that simple, because every person is different and every person's sexual history is different.