Emily Atack reveals unborn baby's gender during interview about consent campaign

Actress Emily Atack has revealed she is to have a baby boy, and said she hopes he will benefit from her campaign to change the law around sexual consent.

She is calling for the law to recognise "affirmative consent", which requires both people to say yes before sex.

Atack, who is six months pregnant, told BBC Breakfast about the campaign on Tuesday before revealing the gender of her unborn baby.

"I want him to be a part of a really positive change," she said.

She will encourage her son to be open about consent as he grows up, because she wants him "to be on the right side of history", she said.

She also called for improved sex education in schools, saying it must involve "boys and girls talking together".

"It starts with education... we need to have these conversations," she added.

Atack rose to fame at the age of 17 as love interest Charlotte Hinchcliffe in Channel 4's coming-of-age sitcom The Inbetweeners.

The role led to her facing unwanted sexualisation online. Last year, she explored her experiences of sexual harassment in BBC documentary Emily Atack: Asking For It?

Not 'male bashing'

The actress announced her campaign - I'm Asking for It - in partnership with campaign group Right to Equality on Monday.

She said the current rape and sexual offence laws put too much burden on women to express that they don't consent.

Affirmative consent requires both people to give "clear and enthusiastic communication", rather than simply the absence of a "no".

The current situation of examining whether a victim said "no" is "not working", Atack told BBC Breakfast.

"It may not be the perfect solution but [we want] to flip it around and say, we're going to make this much easier - did that person say yes?"

Atack said she received abuse on social media after launching the campaign, but said she was not on "a male bashing crusade".

"This is something we need boys and girls, men and women to work together on. Good education, underpinned with a change in law, is a start," she added.

Support and advice about sexual abuse and violence is available via the BBC Action Line .