consensual relationships

Consensual relationships are relationships—romantic, sexual, or otherwise—entered into by mutual agreement of all parties involved.

The term appears most often in institutional contexts where power imbalances exist: workplace policies on consensual relationships between supervisors and subordinates, university rules governing consensual relationships between faculty and students.

The qualifier consensual distinguishes these from coerced or exploitative arrangements, though policies often restrict even consensual relationships when one party has authority over the other.