Sexual Assault and the Issue of Consent in the Age of Social Media

Sexual Assault and the Issue of Consent in the Age of Social Media

WARNING: Graphic

WHEN does no not mean no? When you’re in the US state of North Carolina, it seems.

The ordeal of a young woman, who agreed to have sex at a party but changed her mind when the man allegedly became violent, has shone the spotlight on a shocking law that says you can’t revoke sexual consent once it’s given.

It’s currently a loophole and Senator Jeff Jackson said a bill to change that was currently sat in the Senate’s Rules Committee where it was likely to be tabled.

He told Broadly he would put forward the bill again next year because “this really shouldn’t be a controversial matter”.

“North Carolina is the only state in the country where no doesn’t really mean no. Right now, if a woman tells a man to stop having sex he is under no legal obligation to do so, as long as she initially consented. If sex turns violent, the woman has no right to tell the man he must stop,” he said, describing the loophole as “crazy”.

Aaliyah Palmer, a 19-year-old from North Carolina, has fallen victim to the law.

She allegedly gave consent and had sex with a man at a party but later changed her mind as he became violent. He allegedly did not stop and she was unable to revoke her consent.

“It’s really stupid,” she told the Fayetteville Observer.

“If I tell you no and you kept going, that’s rape.”

This loophole has been affecting women for decades, dating way back to 1977.

That year, North Carolina woman Beverly Hester was on a first date when she was sexually assaulted.

The Miami Herald reports Ms Hester testified in court that the man threatened to beat her if she didn’t have sex with him.

In the Supreme Court Decision, State v. Way, Ms Hester claimed she was asked out on a date and went to a friend’s house. Her date asked her to go upstairs because he wanted to show her something, then he shut the door and tried to take off her pants.

She refused and then he threatened to beat her if she didn’t strip and have sex with him.

When she attempted to leave, he allegedly hit her in the face.

She said she cried for help but the music drowned her out and she said he date claimed her “head would be through the wall” before anybody came for her.

Amy Guy, from Wake County in North Carolina, told WRAL she was fighting to change the law after her horror experience.

In December, her drunk estranged husband showed up at her home and demanded sex.

“Since he was getting angry, I figured it would be better to go ahead and agree to the sex because I figured that was the safer thing for me to do,” she said.

During the sexual encounter, her ex-husband became violent and did not stop when she begged.

Jonathan Wayne Guy was charged with second-degree rape but because of the law that says a woman cannot revoke consent, his charges were downgraded to misdemeanour assault on a female.

Wake County District Attorney Lorrin Freeman told WRAL “we firmly believe that people should have the right to revoke their consent”.

“Anytime someone no longer wishes to be involved in a sexual act ... they have the right to withdraw that consent and the right to revoke that consent,” she said.