Will saying yes to affirmative consent curb college sexual assault?

PBS News Hour - November 6, 2014 at 6:25 PM EST

GWEN IFILL: There’s been mounting pressure on college and university campuses to take new steps to curb sexual assault. One approach, to redefine the way sexual consent is given through an affirmative form of consent that shifts the focus from no to yes. But that premise has jump-started its own debate.

Hari Sreenivasan has our look.

HARI SREENIVASAN: California recently made affirmative consent the law. And other states are considering similar moves, while many schools have made it a part of their policy.

Here to discuss this are Jaclyn Friedman, editor of the book “Yes Means Yes!: Visions of Female Sexual Power and A World Without Rape,” and Shikha Dalmia of the Reason Foundation, a libertarian think tank. She is also a columnist for the magazine “The Week.”f