Two months ago I wrote about sexual assaults on college campuses. I provided some startling statistics such as 1 in 4 women (25%) will be victim of a sexual assault on college campuses during their academic career. This is totally unacceptable.
This week, California Governor Jerry Brown signed legislation explicitly requiring colleges and universities that receive state funds to more clearly define consent in students’ sexual encounters. The new law ushered in the concept of “yes means yes” rather than “no means no,” which has been the norm. What this means is that students must now seek affirmative consent from their partners before a sexual encounter and maintain the affirmative consent during the activity. The law states that consent can be revoked at any time and the absence of “no” is insufficient to give permission to have sex.
One of the important provisions of the California law is that it requires colleges and universities to create comprehensive training and outreach programs for everyone on campus. California’s colleges and universities are responding quickly. The University of California System has developed an on-line training and information module and requires all students to complete the module before they can register for courses. Furthermore, the University of California and the California State University systems have already changed and adopted policies that are consistent with the new law.
One of the key criticisms college administrators face is that their policies against sexual assaults do not clearly define consent. Federal and state legislators and victims’ rights activists have been applying increasing pressure on colleges and universities to strengthen their sexual assault policies. At the core of the criticism is how consent is defined or in some cases not clearly defined.
The crucial part of “yes means yes” is that it shifts the burden of proof from the victim of a sexual assault to the assaulter. Instead of the victim having to prove that she said “no” to sexual activity, the accuser has to prove that the victim clearly consented to the sexual activity. Too often our judicial system puts the blame on the victim rather than on the perpetrator. You often hear comments like, “No wonder she was raped, look at how she was dressed.” We all understand that one of the basic rights in our legal system is that you are innocent until proven guilty. However, in cases of sexual assault, it is time we require the perpetrator to prove that affirmative consent was given to engage in a sexual activity. We need to stop blaming the victim.
In 2009, the U.S. Department of Education, Office of Civil Rights, began tracking sexual assaults complaints on college campuses. Since then, the number of complaints has tripled from 11 to 33. And 33 complaints are just through the first half of 2014. What is more disconcerting, according to the Office of Civil Rights, is that about three quarters of the sexual assault complaints were dismissed or administratively closed. The Office of Civil Rights categorizes sexual assaults as Title IX complaints. Sexual assaults now represent nearly 30% of all Title IX complaints. This dramatic raise is what has legislators and the public alarmed. One sexual assault on campus is too many, but 33 are utterly deplorable.
A few colleges have already implemented affirmative consent as part of their sexual assault policies. One such school is Grinnell College. Grinnell’s policy states that “consent to engage in sexual activity must exist from the beginning to the end of each instance of sexual activity. Consent is demonstrated through mutually understandable words and/or clear, unambiguous actions that indicate a willingness to engage freely in sexual activity. Consent to one form of sexual activity does not constitute consent to engage in all forms of sexual activity." Grinnell’s policy is clearly stated and sets the bar high. All colleges and universities should emulate Grinnell’s policy on sexual assaults, so that consent is clearly defined.
Congratulations to Grinnell College and the other schools who have taken a proactive approach to clearly define consent. More governors and state legislators should follow the example that California Governor Jerry Brown has established and send the strong message that sexual assaults will not be tolerated on college campuses. College and university administrators should more clearly define their sexual assault policies to include affirmative consent. This would go a long way to ensuring that our daughters and sons are safe on college campuses.
