The California law
defines affirmative consent as “affirmative, conscious and voluntary agreement”
to a sexual activity. If someone is “incapacitated due to the influence of
drugs, alcohol or medication,” the law states, he or she cannot give consent.
Students also are incapable of giving consent if they’re asleep, unconscious or
can’t communicate because of a mental or physical condition. But Sokolow says
that if colleges are serious about eliminating student-on-student sexual
violence and harassment, they need to engage in significant educational
outreach and target teens before they get to college.
There’s a common
perception among college students that peers who rape are “sex-starved,
desperate guys who have no game and hide in the bushes,” Sokolow says.
But that’s inaccurate,
he adds, suggesting that a more common profile of a college student who rapes
would be a charismatic guy who is used to getting his way and has ample
opportunities for consensual sex.
“I can’t educate a
student who is predatory not to rape,” Sokolow points out. “What I can do is
teach people around him to recognize the signs.”
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