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7/31/2003 03:41:00 PM | Brad Plumer Sex and consent in the Midwest: Illinois has passed a new law stating that people can change their minds during sex and withdraw consent at any time: (c) A person who initially consents to sexual penetration or sexual conduct is not deemed to have consented to any sexual penetration or sexual conduct that occurs after he or she withdraws consent during the course of that sexual penetration or sexual conduct.My first reaction was that this is no big deal. If a woman changes her mind during intercourse and clearly states that she wants to stop, she should be able to stop. I'm guessing that this situation wouldn't occur very often. I would hope that most men could deal with the ensuing disappointment (and slight discomfort), and simply call the whole thing off. But naturally, questions and doubts are bound to come up. As Dahlia Lithwick points out in this must-read Slate article, modern sexual assault laws are now stacked against men, after a long legal evolution. Whether this is justified or not-- and I think it is-- is a debate in itself. The issue here is that the Illinois laws make the male position even more precarious. Consensual intercourse is no longer safe; a man must now have unmitigated consent from the very first sultry glance to the final orgasm. And as the initial consents pile up, it becomes more and more difficult for any later refusal to seem at all meaningful. If a man has received consent right up until midway through intercourse, how seriously can he be expected to take a sudden display of hesitancy? I can't imagine very many people can just "turn off" during sex, especially if they're receiving vague signs of doubt. So does this make it that much easier for women to accuse men of rape, even when the man might have reasonably thought that he did absolutely nothing wrong? I can imagine scenarios where this law becomes abused: Woman consents to sex with Man, Woman thinks otherwise halfway through, confused Man doesn't stop right away, Man finally gets the hint and stops after 2 minutes, Man gets charged with rape. I don't know if this scenario is common or not, but it's within the realm of possibility, no? Well, that's that. Ampersand has a longer post defending the law, and one with which I probably agree in the end. Even so, between this and the Kobe Bryant case, I think we very well might start seeing more discussions about protecting men from sexual assault charges. perma link |
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