Why Consent Needs to Be More Than Just "No Means No"
Note: For this article, I’ll be centering on women who experience sexual harassment/assault in hetero sexual encounters. We can all agree sexual assault is a crime, and that no one should be subject to it. However, when we start having conversations about consent, what it is and what it looks like, those discussions seem to take place in murkier waters. In the NSW Crimes Act ( https://www.legislation.nsw.gov.au/#/view/act/1900/40 ), the meaning of consent, as it pertains to a person in a sexual encounter, is “ A person consents to sexual intercourse if the person freely and voluntarily agrees to the sexual intercourse .” Now let’s apply that definition to a story that’s been in the public space recently: yes, I’m referring to the babe.net story ( https://babe.net/2018/01/13/aziz-ansari-28355 ) about “Grace” a 22 year old woman, who went on a date with Aziz Ansari, a 33 year old celebrity. Suddenly, what consent is, and what it looks like, has gotten more complicated. ...