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Sexual Assault (cont.)

Terms and Concepts in Sexual Assault

Consent

Consent is the conscious and considered agreement to voluntarily engage in sexual activity with another. Under certain conditions, consent is considered to be denied regardless of any actions on the part of the victim. Those conditions include compulsion, fear of great harm, threats with real or alleged weapons, the use or threat of physical injury or brute force.

People who are mentally compromised or intoxicated are considered by the law incapable of giving consent, even if they appear to be consenting.

When fear or intimidation is used, it is not necessary for a victim to resist or say "no" to establish that sexual assault has taken place. Intimidation of any sort invalidates any legal defense based upon the idea that the victim consented. Nonconsent is implied in all cases of intimidation.

If you begin sexual intimacy, you must use extra care at all times to be certain that the person to whom you are making sexual advances is of sound mind and consenting to whatever acts are taking place at all times during the contact.

Nonconsent

People who are in control of their faculties should use conventional words and actions to indicate nonconsent and resistance to unwanted sexual advances.

People who are compromised (intoxicated, mentally incompetent, or in an altered state of consciousness) are considered by the law to be incapable of consenting, whether they appear to be consenting or not.

If you are starting sexual contact, you must be very careful to determine if any of these compromising conditions exist. If you have even the slightest doubt about the mental state of the proposed sexual partner, you should not start sexual activity, and you should make every effort to protect the compromised person.

Intoxication and sexual assault

Intoxication is involved in many accusations of sexual assault.

Intoxication affects memory and consciousness. Lower levels of intoxication can lead to brief loss of memory for specific events. Higher levels can lead to blackouts where people appear to be awake and participating but do not remember what happened. Extreme levels can lead to complete states of unconsciousness (passing out), where the unconscious person can be taken advantage of without any participation, and the victim has no ability to resist sexual assault at all.

As a rule, when either person is intoxicated, it is best to stop intimate behavior. If one person is more intoxicated than the other, the less intoxicated person may be held responsible for any sexual behaviors that occur. Remember that any compromise of the victim will be construed as nonconsent by law enforcement regardless of the circumstances.

Involuntary intoxication or the intentional drugging of people with alcohol or other drugs, classified as "date rape drugs" (drugs that alter mental consciousness), can lead to allegations of rape by intoxication, a much more serious form of sexual assault.

Even if one person is voluntarily intoxicated, however, complications can arise in many situations. For the recipient of sexual advances, the decrease in self-restraint and a more thoughtless and carefree attitude toward intimacy can lead to sexual intimacy that is not preplanned.

Intoxicated people may also appear to give consent by appearing to enjoy what they are doing and actively participating even though ultimately they may not remember what happened (if they are in a blackout state). When they look back on the encounter, they may feel they have been violated, although at no time did they act as if they were being violated and in fact may have been actively and enthusiastically participating. For example, a person may be consenting to the sexual activity just because he or she is intoxicated. If that person were sober, he or she might not agree to have sex. In situations like these, the intoxication level of the victim can contribute to the accusation of sexual assault.

If the initiator of sexual intimacy is also intoxicated, the situation is further complicated. First, their ability to make valid decisions about consent or nonconsent is compromised. If both people are compromised, finding out exactly what happened during the sexual encounter is more difficult. If legal action is initiated and neither person has a clear idea of what happened, guilt or innocence becomes more difficult to determine. In any case, intoxication of the alleged assailant is a very weak legal defense against allegations of abuse.

In general, it is best not to plan on engaging in any sexual activity if the use of intoxicants is planned, particularly if the relationship with that person is not well established.

Communicating consent or nonconsent

When you begin to be sexually intimate, both parties should be careful to get the consent of the other party. If you are the one to start the contact, you must be sensitive to the acceptance or nonacceptance of any sexual advances. If someone is making advances toward you, you must give clear signals of your feelings at any and all stages of the intimacy. If you change your mind during intimacy and want to stop, you should clearly state it, and the other party must stop immediately.

Resistance to sexual assault

You should attempt to resist sexual assault both verbally and physically. Clearly stating "no," "stop," or other demonstrative words that indicate that you want the intimacy to stop is an important behavior to deter inappropriate advances and clearly demonstrate your feelings. When these words are clearly said, yet ignored, these statements are helpful in proving that an assault took place.

Frequently, if you have your wits about you in these stressful situations, you can use psychological tactics, persuasive conversation, or physically attempt to extricate yourself from a dangerous situation. Physical resistance can be effective in the absence of weapons, particularly in date rape or spousal rape situations. Physical resistance can make certain sexual acts more difficult or even impossible to complete and clearly communicates nonconsent beyond any doubt.

Under other circumstances, however, resisting sexual assault can be more dangerous than the assault itself. With the use of weapons or brutal force, resistance is likely to lead to a greater number of injuries, more serious injuries, and possibly death. Some victims correctly elect to submit. This does not in any way imply consent nor change the nature of the sexual assault.

No reaction under these frightening and unfamiliar circumstances is incorrect. Resist as far as you are able, and then use survival tactics. Surviving an assault is the most important thing. Most victims will recover from any physical injuries related to a sexual assault without physical problems, and most sexually related medical problems can be managed without long-term consequences.

Intercourse between consenting minors

Intercourse between consenting minors, which is very common and widespread, is against the law. In practice, these laws are selectively enforced at the discretion of law enforcement and prosecutors. Most sexual activity between minors is not reported and is consensual. When accusations about sexual acts surface, generally related to consent versus nonconsent issues, this law is used to press charges for the act of intercourse itself in addition to any other charges that may result from other specific sexual acts.

Sexual assault of men

Men can be sexually assaulted. Sexual assaults of men can take on conventional characteristics of force and coercion and can be perpetrated by both men and women. Although the overall incidence of occurrence and reporting is considerably lower, men who have been sexually assaulted (most commonly anal intercourse by other men) should be, and generally are, treated equally under the law.

The male response to the sexual advances of women and sexual assault

Another circumstance that men should be aware of is using good judgment in how they respond to the sexual advances of women. In general, men have a lower threshold than women do to engaging in sexual activity if it is offered to them. This well-known lack of restraint by a man can be used by a woman who is acting recklessly or with bad intentions to engage with men in sex.

Women who are seeking sexual interactions may be doing so for reasons other than a genuine interest in the man. They may be intoxicated and acting rashly or they may desire sex in general. Many cases have been reported where women have had a specific intention to have sex with a particular man for the wrong reasons and with bad intentions. Women in any of these situations can engage in seductive behaviors that men find hard to resist, especially if they are intoxicated.

Afterwards, the women's specific intention, guilt, or remorse can lead to an accusation of sexual assault when no assault occurred at the time the encounter took place. If the woman characterizes this situation as a sexual assault, the man is almost always charged with sexual assault, even though the actual interaction may have been initiated and controlled by the women. Many men who would never engage in sexual assault can be drawn into situations such as these quite easily.

Men must exercise extreme caution in these situations, especially if they are intoxicated. Without exception, advances should be refused if the female is emotionally or cognitively compromised or an uncompromised woman's desires to engage in sexual activity are not clear or logical.

Postponing sexual interaction until both parties are sober, are of sound mind, and can communicate effectively about their feelings is the correct course of action. Both parties will benefit from avoiding the serious consequences of sexual assault accusations.

Fear of reporting sexual assault

Almost all people are fearful of the stigma and difficulty associated with reporting rape. This tendency must be faced and overcome. Sexual assault should always be reported and sexual assailants prosecuted and punished. Sexual predators and abusers are likely to act again, and the level of violence used is likely to increase with subsequent attacks. The law is remarkably protective of victims of sexual assault, and counseling is generally available. All of these factors should decrease the stress and fear associated with reporting. Although prosecution of sexual assault is not without problems, victims of sexual assault generally fare better psychologically if they cooperate with authorities to bring sexual assailants to justice.

Sexual harassment and sexual assault

Sexual harassment is unwelcome sexual advances, requests for sexual favors, and other verbal or physical conduct of a sexual nature. The key to determining sexual harassment is that the advances are unwelcome.

Many women are subject to varying degrees of sexual harassment in the workplace, schools, and other environments where they spend their time. All ages and both sexes can be affected by sexual harassment, but younger females are more vulnerable because of inexperience and fear of adults.

Sexual harassment usually occurs in a situation where the harasser has some sort of control or ability to dominate a person. While most cases of sexual harassment do not lead to sexual assault, directly informing the harasser that the conduct is unwelcome and must stop is imperative. The victim should use any and all demonstrative behaviors, employer complaint mechanisms, or grievance systems to terminate such unwelcome advances.

Harassers, when not confronted, can feel empowered to go further and set up situations in which other sexual activity or a sexual assault can occur. The importance of taking definitive action early decreases the small but documented potential for sexual harassment to turn into sexual assault.

Remorse, guilt, anger, and regrets after consensual sexual activity

Feelings of remorse, guilt, anger, and regrets about a particular consensual sexual encounter have led to many accusations of sexual assault. People, whether conscious or unconscious with clear memory or not, can have bad feelings after consensual intercourse and feel that they have been violated.

If they have a poor recollection or no recollection of what happened, people occasionally fill that void in memory with thoughts that they may have been or must have been sexually assaulted.

Even women who are conscious and uncompromised can be unclear about their desire for sexual intimacy and may engage in sexual activity at times when they are not sure what they are doing is right. Later, they may have regrets or remorse about what they have done for any number of reasons. Dates that did not work out as expected, bad behavior by the man after intimacy, or misunderstandings about the feelings of the other party can lead to vindictive behaviors, which occasionally can include allegation of sexual assault when none occurred.

If you have regrets or second thoughts about a sexual encounter, carefully evaluate what occurred to determine if the other party had any indication that they were acting against consent. If there is no indication that consent had been withdrawn, then sexual assault did not take place.

False accusations

People invent allegations of sexual assault for reasons that should be regarded as criminal and despicable. One study showed that over a 9-year period, up to 16% of sexual assault allegations in one sexual assault examination center were shown after police investigation to be false allegations. Authorities, people accused of sexual assault, victims of sexual assault, and the perpetrators of false allegations should be aware that the possibility of a false allegation will be considered during the investigation of an assault.

In most cases of real sexual assault, ample evidence of the assault will exist. In cases of false accusations, it is equally likely that there will be clear signs that the accusation is false. Making false accusations is a crime.