New Delhi: India Today has released a special Consent Culture Survey issue in partnership with Durex The Birds and Bees Talk, presenting a comprehensive editorial examination of how consent is understood, negotiated and experienced by women across India. The issue features findings from the India Today-Durex The Birds and Bees Talk Consent Culture Report: Awareness, Equity, Inclusion and Protection, based on a nationwide women-only survey conducted by research organisation CVoter.
The report explores consent beyond its conventional definition, examining it through the lenses of autonomy, dignity, safety, workplace culture, family dynamics, public spaces, digital interactions and intimate relationships. It highlights a significant gap between awareness and lived experiences, revealing that while Indian women increasingly recognise the language of consent, many continue to face emotional, social and institutional barriers in exercising it.
The findings also build on India Today Group’s earlier Gross Domestic Behaviour (GDB) initiative, which examined public attitudes across civic behaviour, public safety, gender attitudes, and diversity and discrimination.
Among the report’s key insights is the disconnect between understanding consent in principle and practising it in everyday life. It examines how refusal often carries emotional or reputational consequences, how family structures influence personal choices, how workplace hierarchies affect an individual’s ability to say no, and how digital platforms have introduced new challenges around privacy, images, messaging and personal boundaries.
The survey also underscores strong support for early, formal and age-appropriate consent education, advocating conversations around respect, safety, personal boundaries and the right to refuse. The findings align with the objectives of Durex The Birds and Bees Talk, which focuses on enabling informed discussions with adolescents on consent, relationships, inclusion and healthy behaviours.
Speaking on the occasion, Aroon Purie, Chairman and Editor-in-Chief, India Today Group, said, “Consent is among the most fundamental expressions of individual dignity. Yet in India, it remains a concept more often invoked in principle than consistently understood in practice. As public discourse around rights, equality and respect has evolved, the everyday experiences of women continue to reveal how unevenly these ideals translate into reality. Our aim with this programme is to bridge this gap.
The India Today-Durex The Birds and Bees Talk Consent Culture Report seeks to bring much-needed empirical clarity to this conversation. By centring the voices and lived realities of women across the country, the study attempts to map how consent is interpreted, negotiated and sometimes disregarded in daily interactions. At the India Today Group, we believe responsible journalism must not only chronicle events but also illuminate the deeper currents shaping society. Our hope is that this report will act as a credible mirror, encouraging a more informed national conversation and helping advance a culture rooted in dignity, respect and autonomy.”
Gaurav Jain, Executive Vice President, South Asia, Reckitt, said, “Conversations around consent in India have long been shaped by silence, misinformation and deeply ingrained social conditioning. Through Durex The Birds and Bees Talk, our endeavour has been to enable informed, age-appropriate conversations on consent, relationships, respect and personal boundaries. The Consent Culture Report: Awareness, Equity, Inclusion and Protection, developed in partnership with the India Today Group, aims to bring credible, data-led insights into how consent is understood and experienced in India today. By placing real women’s voices at the centre, we hope this initiative will encourage more open conversations, challenge persistent misconceptions, and empower a generation that is informed, responsible and resilient.”
The special issue features detailed editorial analysis, survey findings and expert perspectives on the multiple contexts in which consent is tested. It examines issues such as whether “no” is accepted without explanation, whether silence is mistaken for agreement, how pressure influences consent, and how women navigate consent within marriage, relationships, workplaces and family environments.
It also explores evolving challenges in public and digital spaces, including online harassment, unwanted contact, image sharing, data privacy and the changing meaning of consent in an increasingly connected society.
By combining original research with editorial analysis, the Consent Culture Survey issue aims to provide a data-driven understanding of how Indian society perceives, respects and protects consent, while encouraging informed public dialogue on one of the country’s most significant contemporary social issues.
