What Constitutes Sexual Consent and Assault? The Effects of Verbal, Physical, and Linguistic Cues

In 2014, the California legislature passed a bill to change the definition of sexual consent at colleges across the state. The legislation defines consenting to sex as the presence of a verbal or non-verbal consent rather than simply an absence of a “no.” This updated definition of consent builds on a movement among some feminist activists promoting the idea of “enthusiastic consent,” which is defined as “mutual verbal, physical, and emotional agreement that happens without manipulation, threats, or head games.” The current study examines how the presence or absence of verbal and physical consent, as well as descriptions of a dating scenario in active or passive voice, impact people’s perceptions of whether or not consent was given, and if not, the extent of the punishment that the perpetrator should receive. Results were analyzed with a 2 (verbal consent or not) X 2 (physical consent or not) X 2 (active or passive voice) Mixed ANOVA. Results from this study show the extent to which college students have accepted or rejected the notion that both verbal and physical consent are important components of consent