Inside Higher Ed
7.21.15 | Jeanne Zaino
When students in two of the U.S.’s largest states return to campus in August they will find that the definition of what constitutes sexual assault has changed. While the change is fairly dramatic and impacts many, it has been accomplished with surprisingly little fanfare. The lack of coverage may be hailed as a sign that the change is broadly supported. However the net result is that students may not be cognizant of it until they arrive in the fall.
Recently New York became the second state to pass affirmative consent legislation. Under the new law, consent now requires an affirmative agreement between the two parties or what can also be defined as clear, unambiguous assent to the sexual interaction. This is a wholesale change from the former ‘no means no’. The legislation also creates a victims bill of rights and increases training for law enforcement, as well as college and university employees.
In signing the law at New York University last week, Governor Andrew Cuomo said that the legislation, an expansion of a policy in effect since last year at the state’s public universities, would help end sexual assault "and the imbalance of power that women face across the board
Cuomo was not alone in pushing for this bill. He famously teamed up with Lady Gaga, among others, to urge passage and penned a widely read op-ed with the superstar in support of his “Enough is Enough” campaign.
New York’s law comes shortly after the passage of similar legislation in California. The bill, signed by California Governor Jerry Brown last year was the first in the nation to force colleges and universities receiving state financial aid to adopt an “affirmative, conscious, and voluntary agreement to engage in sexual activity.” Under the law consent to sex requires an affirmative ‘yes’ rather than the absence of a ‘no’. Going forward college’s receiving aid are required to use this redefinition to both investigate claims of assault and instruct their students.
