Affirmative consent for sexual activity is now mandatory for all students at the University of Maine, making it the latest to accept the new “yes means yes” consent policy.
The university’s board of trustees approved the new policy on Monday in an effort to reduce sexual assault on campus. Students will be required to actively consent to all sexual activities, but leaves the door open for non-verbal consent.
The new policy states that consent “must be informed, freely and actively given and consist of a mutually agreeable and understandable exchange of words or actions.”
The policy allows consent to be withdrawn at any time and makes clear that silence is not consent (which kind of negates the consent-through-actions part) and a history of past sexual activity does not equal consent. The policy also states that consent for one sexual activity does not equal consent for another activity, meaning consent must be ongoing throughout the encounter.
And of course, consent from someone who has had alcohol cannot be taken at face value, either. (An accused student, however, cannot plead drunkenness in arguing that he believed he had obtained consent.)
How does an accused person prove they obtained consent? That’s unclear. The only obvious way to prove one’s innocence in these situations (filming the encounter) is prohibited by the policy.
A representative from UMaine did not respond to a Washington Examiner request for clarification prior to press time.
UMaine’s policy for handling complaints of sexual assault does protect due process rights of the accused better than similar policies around the country.
The policy refers to accusers as “complainants” rather than “victims” or “survivors,” which at least seems to acknowledge that an accusation is not the equivalent of a guilty finding.
The policy also allows the accuser and the accused to be accompanied by an attorney when a formal complaint has been filed, although the attorney cannot participate in the inquiry.
