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Nudity, costumes that would make a churchy faint, people straight out of the Mad Max universe, and of course, the Orgy Dome. These are some of the attractions of the yearly art festival in the U.S. called, the Burning Man. While it may seem like heaven for perverts, it is more of an organized chaos than a place for debauchery, so strictly no touching, without consent, of course.



That is exactly what the organizers of the Buring Man are stressing right now. More specifically, as a reminder to this year’s attendees that while the place has a lot of inviting “adult” things going on, consent is still to be observed. For 80,000 people expected to be present this year, that might get more difficult to be observed.

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“Scandalous costumes and nudity might be considered inviting. (Others) automatically think consent is implied, but implied consent doesn’t exist,” stated Donna Rae Watson, director of the festival’s Bureau of Erotic Discourse camp. It is also not just a simple PSA which the organizers are posting. Each ticket-holder was actually sent an email that appropriate behavior is expected at all times in the festival.

Watson also stressed that sexual liberation does not mean a free pass to do things without consent, and these include sexual assault and harassment. Each year, around 20 reports of sexual harassments or assault behavior are recorded in Burning Man. These include leering or grabbing, both of which are not considered as sexual assault in Nevada, which makes things a little complicated. Regardless, organizers of the Burning Man still strive to teach their participants about sexual consent along with sexual liberation.

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