Consent Isn’t Absolute

The simple maxim 'Nobody can touch you without your consent' is a useful starting principle but routinely yields to other social and moral considerations—parental authority, emergency rescue, prior agreement in games or sports, and law‑enforcement interventions. Recognizing these defeasible zones clarifies disputes about age thresholds, medical consent for minors, policing powers, and sexual‑consent policy. — Framing consent as contextual rather than absolute reframes legal and policy debates (age of consent, parental rights, assault law, and institutional rules) and reduces polarizing blanket assertions that obscure trade‑offs.