U Students Look Into Adopting 'Affirmative Consent' Policy
MINNEAPOLIS (WCCO) -- Students at the University of Minnesota say the "affirmative consent" policy could make it easier to determine if sex was indeed consensual.
The university's current policy defines consent as "informed, freely and actively given, and mutually understood." And it cannot be obtained through "force, coercion, intimidation and/or threats."
The new policy means instead of waiting for someone to say "no," there needs to be an affirmative "yes" given by both participants.
The so-called affirmative consent policy was passed last year in California by lawmakers. They now require all colleges to adopted sexual assault policies that require students to give "an affirmative, unambiguous, and conscious decision by each participant to engage in mutually agreed-upon sexual activity."
The Associated Press reports that three Minnesota schools have adopted similar policies. They are the University of St. Thomas, Carleton College and Augsburg College.
"We prefer to be ahead of the curve rather than behind it," said Joelle Stangler, student body president of the U of M. "We want to kind of get all our ducks in a row and understand what the implications would be before we even start looking into pursuing implementation."
Stangler says that so far she's only heard positive reaction from students and campus organizations.
In a 2007 survey done by the Boynton Health Center in the Twin Cities, 1.1 percent of men and 7.2 percent of women reported getting unwanted sexual contact.