Under pressure from the federal government to look tough on campus sexual assault, several Wisconsin universities are adopting misguided “yes means yes” consent policies.
“Several Wisconsin universities already have begun informing freshmen as soon as they arrive on campus that sexual activity is policed by the student code of conduct, with ramifications up to and including expulsion,” the Milwaukee Wisconsin Journal-Sentinel wrote. “The expectation is that every sexual contact must be preceded with consent from both parties; a clear and freely given ‘yes’ — not the absence of a ‘no.’ Students incapacitated by alcohol or drugs are considered incapable of giving consent.”
The problem with such a policy, as I’ve documented many times before, is that consent is defined vaguely and whether someone obtained consent is nearly impossible to prove or disprove (unless they record the entire night’s encounter, which is illegal in many states without the other party’s consent). Otherwise, it’s a matter of he said/she said.
Pressure from the Obama administration forces colleges and universities to handle sexual assault complaints as if they were criminal courts, and some Wisconsin administrators aren’t happy about the requirement.
“We’re an educational institution; we’re not a criminal justice system,” Lori Berquam, dean of students at the University of Wisconsin-Madison told the Journal-Sentinel.
Exactly.
