Consent

New York Consent Laws: Affirmative Consent- a knowing, voluntary, and mutual decision among all participants to engage in sexual activity. Can be given by words or action, as long as they give clear permission regarding willingness to engage. Silence or lack of resistance does not count, and the definition does not vary based on a participant’s sex, sexual orientation, gender identity, or gender expression.

  • Consent to any sexual act or prior consensual activity between or with a party does not mean consent to any other sexual act
  • Required regardless of whether the person initiating is under the influence of drugs and/or alcohol
  • Consent can be initially given but withdrawn at any time
  • Consent cannot be given when a person is incapacitated, which occurs when an individual lacks the ability to knowingly choose to participate in sexual activity. Could be caused by:
    • Lack of consciousness
    • Being asleep
    • Being involuntarily restrained
    • Other scenarios that prevent the individual from being able to consent
  • Depending on the degree of intoxication, someone who is under the influence of alcohol, drugs, or other intoxicants may be incapacitated and therefore unable to consent
  • Cannot be given when it is the result of any coercion, intimidation, force, or threat of harm
  • Sexual activity must stop when consent is withdrawn or can no longer be given

Sometimes the degree of sexual assault can be unclear

Mutual Consent Unfair Pressure Threats Aggression Rape/Assault

  • Happens very often in the US, approximately 15-25% of people will experience this in their lifetime

  • Often happens to young people

  • Happens to people of all ages, body types, and appearances

  • Most people know the person who assaulted them

  • Happens to boys and men too

  • About power and control, not sex

  • 1 in 5 women

  • Almost 25% of men

  • 81% of women and 43% of men reported experiencing sexual harassment in their lifetime

  • 1 in 3 female victims experienced it between the age of 11 and 17

  • 1 in 4 male victims experienced it between the age of 11 and 17

  • Estimated 734,630 victims in the U.S in 2018

  • 40% were reported to police in 2017, but only 25% in 2018

  • Between 2% and 10% reports are fake

  • 1 in 4 undergraduate women experienced sexual assault or misconduct at 33 of the nation’s major universities

  • 51.1% of female victims were raped by an intimate partner, 40.8% by an acquaintance

  • 52.4% of male victims were raped by an acquaintance, 15.2% by a stranger

  • Estimated lifetime cost of rape is $122,461 per victim