Sexual consent as straightforward, easy, and simple to obtain has become a hallmark of social activism and socially conscious conversation around rape and sexual assault; however, sexual consent often isn't straightforward and simple. Otherwise, we wouldn't need to be having so many long and complicated conversations about it. There are flagrant sexual consent violations that happen all the time, but society and the law are most likely to ignore them. Violated: Sexual Consent and Assault in the 21st Century zeroes in on three main issues that desperately need correcting in our cultural conversations about consent. The first of these is the vision that society and the law have about the meaning of sexual "consent" for men and women, such that women's bodies are regarded as sexually fragile and their sexual consent as precious, while men's bodies are regarded as sexually utilitarian and their consent as irrelevant. The second is our social and legal failure to recognize that some types of sexual assault are worse than others, or to understand that the intentions of the violator matter. Third is the problematic way that activists have ended up eschewing the law and the criminal justice system and use a social version of "self-help" to reform; yet there are many specific legal reforms pertaining to consent and sexual assault that are desirable and necessary for social, cultural, and ethical reasons. Broken into two parts, Violatedexplains and identifies the social problems that underlie issues of consent and sexual violation, and how they have emerged over time; it then proposes specific social, cultural, and legal reforms to help reduce consent violation. These proposed changes include everything from improving formal sexual education to banning single-sex fraternity houses to clarifying the legal perspective about the mens rea (mental states) required of perpetrators (and survivors) in cases of sexual assault.
Julie L. Fennell (she/her) is an associate professor of sociology at Gallaudet University with specializations in gender and sexuality. Her research has been published in Sexualities, Sociological Forum, Contraception, Gender & Society, and more. She remains a well-established figure as a kinky performer, blogger, and presenter, and she continues to educate about BDSM in many parts of the US and Canada. J. Remy Green (they/them) holds a J.D. from the University of Chicago Law School. They are a law firm partner and practicing attorney specializing in issues relating to consent, Me Too, and the First Amendment, including a sub-specialty in defending rape survivors against defamation claims made by their rapists. They have published academic articles in top legal journals on topics ranging from "revenge porn" and copyright to the First Amendment and online incitement of violence. Green has been a guest lecturer and adjunct professor with Boston University School of Law, NYU, and various schools within the City University of New York system, where they teach courses that cover gender and the law, law and technology, as well as civil and constitutional rights.
