Page 32 - ARUBA TODAY

A32 FEATURE
Monday 18 deceMber 2017
In sex assault laws, definition of consent varies widely

By JOCELYN NOVECK “You have to look at the complexity of the encoun- as in a recent reported consented before,” Reimer
AP National Writer power dynamics, the co- ter. Because consent is a case, the accused can- says.
For two months now, as ercion, the manipulation,” function of power. not be charged with rape “I told her that just because
accusations of sexual mis- says Jeanie Kurka Reimer, You have to have a modi- because the woman con- you consent once, it’s not
conduct have piled up a longtime advocate in the cum of power to give it.” sented at the beginning. a blanket consent. Then
against Harvey Weinstein, she got it — that this time
the disgraced mogul has it was rape — and she got
responded over and over angry.”
again: “Any allegations of Murphy, at NYU, says that
nonconsensual sex are un- when the American Law
equivocally denied.” Institute began a project
Consent is a concept cen- several years ago to re-
tral to law on sexual assault, write sex assault laws in its
and will likely be an issue 1962 Model Penal Code,
in potential legal cases consent was the first thing it
against Weinstein, who is tried to define. The institute
under investigation by po- — an elite body of judges,
lice in four cities, and others lawyers and academics —
accused in the current so- issues model laws that are
called “reckoning.” often adopted by state
But the definition of con- legislatures. The project is
sent — namely, how it is ex- aimed at updating the laws
pressed — is a matter of in- and dropping some partic-
tense debate: Is it a definite ularly outdated notions, like
“yes,” or the mere absence the idea that rape cannot
of “no”? occur within a marriage.
Can it be revoked? Do “It’s been a laborious pro-
power dynamics come into cess,” notes Murphy.
play? Legally, the defini- In this Nov. 23, 2011 file photo, film producer Harvey Weinstein poses for a photo in New York. It took about five years to
tion varies widely across Associated Press achieve the current con-
the nation.”Half the states sent definition , which rec-
don’t even have a defini- area of sexual assault. “The The anti-sexual violence And several states have ognizes that the essence of
tion of consent,” says Erin threatening and groom- organization RAINN tracks passed laws requiring af- consent is willingness — but
Murphy, a professor at ing that perpetrators use the various state definitions firmative consent — go- that how willingness is ex-
New York University School to create confusion and of consent. The differences ing further than the usual pressed depends on con-
of Law who’s involved in a compliance and fear in the make for a situation that “no means no” standard text.
project to rewrite a model minds of the victims. Just is “confusing as hell,” says to require an actual “yes,” Murphy says it remains to
penal code on sex as- going along with some- Rebecca O’Connor, the though not necessarily ver- be seen whether the huge
sault. “One person’s idea thing does not mean con- group’s vice president of bal. Among those states: attention now being paid
of consent is that no one sent.” public policy. Wisconsin, California and to sexual misconduct will
is screaming or crying. An- Many Weinstein accusers For many years, O’Connor Florida. In Florida, consent accelerate the process of
other person’s idea of con- have spoken about that points out, “we had this is defined as “intelligent, rewriting laws, or — as in
sent is someone saying, uneven dynamic. For years he said-she said mentality, knowing, and voluntary the recent roiling debate
‘Yes, I want to do this.’ Weinstein was one of the where you went into court consent and does not in- over college campuses —
And in between, of course, most powerful men in Hol- and if you couldn’t prove clude coerced submis- make it more complicated.
is an enormous spectrum of lywood, and most of his al- that you didn’t consent, sion.” At RAINN, O’Connor says
behavior, both verbal and leged victims were women the activity was deemed “We’re not there yet,” she is hopeful that state
nonverbal, that people en- in their 20s, looking for their consensual.” Also, most O’Connor says, “but a lot of lawmakers will pick up the
gage in to communicate first big break. states required that the ac- states are starting to move pace of updating their laws
desire or lack of desire.” A number have indicated cuser show force was used, the wheels on this.” with new understandings of
“It’s pretty telling,” Mur- that his power — and fear to show lack of consent. The varying definitions of concepts like consent.
phy adds, “that the critical of his retribution, both pro- “Of course, our thinking consent can lead to con- “We’ll see how all this plays
thing most people look to fessional and physical — and understanding of these fusion among the people out, because when you
understand the nature of blunted their ability to resist cases has evolved tremen- who most need to under- train the national spotlight
a sexual encounter — this his advances. Actress Paz dously, and so states have stand them. on it, suddenly action is
idea of consent — is one de la Huerta, who has ac- acted in response to that,” Reimer, the victims’ advo- born,” O’Connor says.
that we don’t even have cused Weinstein of rape, she says. “What we’re find- cate, recalls a Wisconsin Most important, she says,
a consensus definition of in said in a TV interview: “I just ing is especially at mo- case in which a woman is for people to recognize
our society.” froze in fear. I guess that ments like this — when it’s had experienced a violent that a lack of consent can
Many victim advocates would be considered rape, impossible to ignore the sexual experience with a be expressed in many dif-
argue that a power imbal- because I didn’t want to conversation — they are boyfriend she was trying ferent ways.
ance plays a role. In nearly do it.” ... re-evaluating the factors to break up with. She had “Yes, there is a legal defi-
every instance, the allega- One woman who did man- that play into the definition consented to sex at other nition for each state,” she
tions in recent weeks came age to escape Weinstein’s of consent and how it can times in their relationship, says.
from accusers who were in advances in a 2014 hotel- be expressed.” but was no longer interest- “But at the end of the day
far less powerful positions room encounter addressed For example, O’Connor ed. This time, she said no at a survivor knows whether or
than those they accused — the power imbalance in a says, North Carolina is look- first, but then stopped re- not they consented. I want
as in, for example, the rape recent essay. ing at its law that doesn’t sisting as he became more the message to go out that
allegations that have sur- The very word “consent,” allow consent to be re- agitated and her children the criminal activity of an-
faced against music mogul actress and writer Brit Mar- voked once it’s been giv- slept nearby. other is never a victim’s
Russell Simmons, which he ling wrote in the Atlantic, en — which means that if “She thought she had con- fault, and that extends to
denies. “cannot fully capture the an encounter turns violent, sented, because she had the issue of consent.”q