Patterico's Pontifications

10/1/2014

Fighting Sexual Assault On Campus With Both A New Law And A New App

Filed under: General — Dana @ 7:04 am



[guest post by Dana]

In an effort to stem sexual assault on college campuses, California Gov. Jerry Brown has signed into law the “yes means yes” sexual consent bill (SB967), described as “a policy of unambiguous, affirmative consent by students engaged in sexual activity.” State funding for financial aid to California colleges hinges upon adopting specific requirements when investigating sexual assaults:

Under criminal law, rape and sexual assault occur when one person forces another into sex despite the denial of consent, a standard commonly referred to as “no means no.” The new California standard, however, is one commonly referred to as “only yes means yes.” Under this standard, a sex act can only be presumed as consensual if both participants have explicitly consented. Even if no overt objections are raised at the time, if no explicit consent is obtained a sexual encounter may be defined as rape.

Activists claim the law is needed to protect women on campus, one in five of whom are alleged to suffer some form of sexual assault before leaving school. The new standard is also hoped to counter a public perception that an assault must be violent in nature to be considered rape.

What it says:

The legislation says silence or lack of resistance does not constitute consent. Under the bill, someone who is drunk, drugged, unconscious or asleep cannot grant consent.

Lawmakers say consent can be nonverbal, and universities with similar policies have outlined examples as a nod of the head or moving in closer to the person.

This won’t be problematic at all, eh? And as would be expected, the micromanaging of people’s sex lives is being questioned:

But is there a role for the government in mandating affirmative consent? It seems extremely difficult and extraordinarily intrusive to micromanage sex so closely as to tell young people what steps they must take in the privacy of their own dorm rooms. Colleges, to their credit, are struggling to clarify and strengthen their policies on sexual misconduct, and are seeking to provide better support for victims of sexual assault in the face of growing concern about the issue. But must they become so prescriptive as to try to set rules about exactly how sex should proceed? There are serious questions about whether such a policy is either reasonable or enforceable.

And just in time to help these confused young people decide whether or not they’re “good to go”, there is a new app that will walk them through the decision making. Yes. That’s right. An app intended to help protect from possible sexual assault as well as track intoxication levels and interest in sex:

Lee Ann Allman, a creator of the app, says she was inspired to make it after talking with her college-aged kids about sexual assault on campuses across the country. They “are very aware of what’s happening, and they’re worried about it, but they’re confused about what to do. They don’t know how they should be approaching somebody they’re interested in,” she told me. Meanwhile, “kids are so used to having technology that helps them with issues in their lives” that Allman believes the app will help facilitate necessary conversations, encourage them to consider their level of intoxication, and remind young people that consent to sex should be affirmatively given and can be revoked at any time.

How it works:

After deciding that you would like to have sex with someone, launch the Good2Go app (free on iTunes and Google Play), hand the phone off to your potential partner, and allow him or her to navigate the process to determine if he or she is ready and willing. “Are We Good2Go?” the first screen asks, prompting the partner to answer “No, Thanks,” “Yes, but … we need to talk,” or “I’m Good2Go.” If the partner chooses door No. 1, a black screen pops up that reads “Remember! No means No! Only Yes means Yes, BUT can be changed to NO at anytime!” If he or she opts instead to have a conversation before deciding—imagine, verbally communicating with someone with whom you may imminently engage in sexual intercourse—the app pauses to allow both parties to discuss.

If the partner—let’s assume for the purposes of this blog post, partner is a she—indicates that she is “Good2Go,” she’s sent to a second screen that asks if she is “Sober,” “Mildly Intoxicated,” “Intoxicated but Good2Go,” or “Pretty Wasted.” If she chooses “Pretty Wasted,” the app informs her that she “cannot consent” and she’s instructed to return the phone back to its owner (and presumably, not have sex under any circumstances, young lady). All other choices lead to a third screen, which asks the partner if she is an existing Good2Go user or a new one. If she’s a new user, she’s prompted to enter her phone number and a password, confirm that she is 18 years old, and press submit. (Minors are out of luck—the app is only for consenting adults.) Then, she’ll fill out a fourth prompt, which asks her to input a six-digit code that’s just been texted to her own cellphone to verify her identity with that app. (Previous users can just type in their phone number—which serves as their Good2Go username—and password.) Once that level is complete, she returns the phone to its owner, who can view a message explaining the terms of the partner’s consent. (For example, the “Partner is intoxicated but is Good2Go.”) Then, the instigator presses a button marked “Ok,” which reminds him again that yes can be changed to “NO at anytime!”

And then after all of that and if you’re not completely worn out, totally confused or just out of the mood, you can safely have sex. I think.

–Dana

68 Responses to “Fighting Sexual Assault On Campus With Both A New Law And A New App”

  1. Hello.

    Dana (4dbf62)

  2. The fact that they believe a telephone app is an appropriate solution is problematic. Our society has jumped the shark. Fonzi, you’re our only hope!

    hadoop (f7d5ba)

  3. LOL. For THIS all the California hippies and flower children bravely fought the sexual revolution and loudly protested against “the man”?

    elissa (68eca7)

  4. The cool kids never accept that they become The Man

    Simon Jester (c8876d)

  5. Soon text messages will be the only form of intercourse for some…

    Colonel Haiku (2601c0)

  6. This reads like something from The Onion. We are living in RAH’s “The Crazy Years” for sure.

    Simon Jester (c8876d)

  7. The problem as I understand it is the law gives more credence to the complainant’s side of things than to the accused. The complainant is almost always female — men do not complain about sex for any number of reasons, starting with the Boy Code. So the supposedly neutral favoring of the accuser amounts to simply coloring the law’s blatant sex discrimination.

    Kevin M (b357ee)

  8. Sounds good to me. I’d like to require the additional prerequisite of a marriage license, a marriage ceremony in front of witnesses, and a gold ring. Diamond optional; elopement encouraged.

    nk (dbc370)

  9. I ran across this yesterday that seems pertinent, from Time, even.
    http://time.com/3444749/camille-paglia-the-modern-campus-cannot-comprehend-evil/

    as nk suggests, once upon a time they way you started interacting with a person you were interested in was by talking on the front porch with the parents home, at least that’s how it was sometimes.

    Though as Solomon said, there is nothing new under the sun. I read once something from a few hundred years ago, perhaps by Jonathon Edwards, that one reason for “hay rides” was so that young people could do things under the hay that they normally couldn’t get away with doing.
    That had never occurred to me, but it makes sense.

    MD in Philly (f9371b)

  10. A much bigger issue is how the US Dept of Ed is forcing colleges and universities to misinterpret Title IX such that claims of sexual misconduct against guys are treated as “guilty until proven innocent” and they are denied thier most basic rights to counsel or to face their accuser or to a trial by jury or in some cases mount any sort of defense at all. causing these guys to be kicked out of college and have their scholarships cancelled because a person they may or may not have had sex with (there have been cases of mistaken identity or even predatory accusations against completely innocent parties) has decided usually after the fact that they really should not have had sex even though they were perfectly ok with it AT THE TIME. sorry, once the deed is done you cannot retroactively withdraw consent. but apparently in the world of Title IX, you can.

    Rorschach (61bf43)

  11. As the Duke lacrosse team found out, a woman of low moral character can make a lot of trouble for even innocent boys. My advice is, “Don’t swim in sewers and you won’t get dirty”. Guys, stay away from girls with tattoos or nose studs. Girls, stay away from guys who listen to rap music. For a start.

    nk (dbc370)

  12. Greetings:

    I spent a couple of years at one of Governor Brown’s state universities back in the mid-nineties. Back there and then, the sexual hysteria on campus centered on two bits of half-wit, namely, “No means no !!!” and “What part of ‘No !!!’ don’t you understand ???” with which swaths of the campus were papered.

    The latter, by far, was my favorite and my own half-wit compelled me to amend all that I came across with “I don’t ‘No !!!’ “.

    This “app” thing will be a much greater challenge.

    11B40 (844d04)

  13. Here’s a nice article on the Good2Go App and how it amounts to little more than a sexual assault confession.

    http://www.thecollegefix.com/post/19444/

    Dejectedhead (a094a6)

  14. Its only a matter of time before colleges start providing pre-printed consent forms to students.

    edoc118 (c37322)

  15. Do these Democrats not find it odd that they definition of “Rape” is different for people if they are enrolled in college?

    The Democratic Party’s War on Words continues!

    Dejectedhead (a094a6)

  16. Over twenty years ago Antioch College, at the urging of it’s “Womyn’s Center,” implemented a policy of “active consent” for sexual relations between students which included requiring verbal consent for each separate act during the encounter: May I kiss you? Now may I touch your breast? Now may I remove your bra? Etc. The policy was universally lambasted and ridiculed, and from what I understand was never exactly enforced.

    So the lesson here is that whatever lunacy the far left suggests today will be adopted as sensible policy by the Democrat party and their liberal enablers in academia, government, and the media within one short generation. Think about the most wild-eye leftwing ideas floating out there today — jailing climate change “deniers,” revoking tax-exempt status for churches who don’t get on board with female clergy and gay marriage — and you can bet it will be in the Democrat Party platform in the 2032 election.

    JVW (638245)

  17. “Now anybody ever seen her
    They call her Miss Demeanor
    Watch the way she slides from side to side
    Move so loose, look so good
    Plays in every game she could.

    Now she smell so sweet, like apple pie
    Oh so good ’bout, ’bout to make me die
    For a slice or two I’d be a fool
    ‘Round the neighborhood they say
    She don’t give no slice away.”

    Colonel Haiku (2601c0)

  18. Are you ready for the Sex Robots?

    Colonel Haiku (2601c0)

  19. Sounds good to me. I’d like to require the additional prerequisite of a marriage license, a marriage ceremony in front of witnesses, and a gold ring. Diamond optional; elopement encouraged.

    nk, wouldn’t it warm our hearts if the law of unintended consequences meant that these rules brought back a measure of chastity and chivalry to college campuses, and that more and more students started to see college as a place to meet and court a life-long partner rather than just hop from bed to bed for six drunken years?

    JVW (638245)

  20. So if I don’t have a smart phone, and I don’t, I ain’t getting laid?

    Gazzer (08a644)

  21. Seriously, now.

    I defended my first rape case in 1984. At that time, the law was “by force and against her will”. It was thought to be too hard on the victims because it allowed “she wanted it” so they changed it to plain “force or threat of force”. Now, they’re thinking that maybe consent is what’s really important after all, and not the specifics of the way it is violated. It’s partly a political view, partly a social view, and in my opinion a sensible view. There should be some degree of reflection and responsibility, by both people, when doing things that make babies, even if it does offend the “anything goes” ethos.

    nk (dbc370)

  22. We cross-posted, JVW. The answer is a definite yes.

    nk (dbc370)

  23. Jimmy Buffett famously suggested, “Why don’t we get drunk and screw?”

    The answer today, in California, is “Because then we’re both rapists.”

    It’s true. Sure, apologists will sniff, “Surely prosecutors won’t bring criminal actions in those cases.”

    Really? What if only one of the two drunken screw-ers complains, as will usually be the case? Not all prosecutors are as level-headed as Patrick, and some might be “gender politics warriors” who decide to show one them knuckle-dragging frat boys a lesson (in facing a midterm sentence of 6 or 7 years).

    Mitch (341ca0)

  24. #22. Yes, it is absolutely sensible to expect people to be aware of consent, but the issue with these laws is that they are trying to micromanage relationships. They are codifying that there is no responsibility for sex if you are female (or at least not equivalent to male responsibility). There is no expectation that a woman even says “No” anymore. While it isn’t attached to criminal statutes yet, ending someone’s college career over a “he said/she said” incident, with the scales tilted toward “she said” isn’t the best way to go about it.

    Dejectedhead (a094a6)

  25. It seems like the only safe way to ensure consent is to video each encounter for the “protection” of both (or more) parties.

    What could go wrong? 🙂

    daleyrocks (bf33e9)

  26. invasive laws what penetrate deeply into places where they’re not welcome are very rape culture I think

    happyfeet (a785d5)

  27. Daleyrocks, you think it just a joke, but:

    “even if [making a surreptitious sex video] were illegal, some men consciously decide that they’d rather be charged with the less serious crime of illegal video recording than felony rape.”

    (Warning: leftist site — minimize traffic) http://www.abajournal.com/magazine/article/lights_camera_evidence_video_is_the_latest_defense_to_rape_charges/

    Mitch (341ca0)

  28. “even if [making a surreptitious sex video] were illegal, some men consciously decide that they’d rather be charged with the less serious crime of illegal video recording than felony rape.”

    Or they could just keep it in their pants. Gonadal urges are not sacred rights.

    nk (dbc370)

  29. illegally recording sex is very rape culture

    and kinda hot

    happyfeet (a785d5)

  30. Jimmy Buffett famously suggested, “Why don’t we get drunk and screw?”

    Pretty sure that song is now a hate crime — excuse me, a Hate Crime — on the campus of today. Just hum a few bars and you will be forced into reeducation camp run by the Womyn’s Center.

    JVW (638245)

  31. MD — ah, hayrides. There were lots of distinctions, but the one to pay attention to was “Bales or hay” (bales then were rectangular, and were stacked like blocks; loose hay was stacked with a pitchfork.) Whether pulled by tractor or team, level or hilly, noisy or quiet, radio or not, chaperoned or not, with bales you sat on bales and leaned on bales (perhaps under a blanket) while with hay you could try to sit on top but unintentionally and frequently slid into the hay. While under the hay and together in your blanket …. Dad was always opposed to both, Mom encouraged them, as long as I “acted properly”, and she would quiet Dad by saying it was good social skills training. Jerry’s “Git your hand ofen my Sue!” followed by Sue’s “Shut up, Jerry, ifn you know what’s good for you! Sit down an’ cuddle, ain’t no one being hurt here exceptn by your shouting!”

    Modern farms with those giant round bales … takes a chunk of fun out of being a farm kid.

    It would seem the app should have to be filled out by both all parties to the festivity, perhaps with seconds (one from each participant) including their consent.

    htom (412a17)

  32. “Daleyrocks, you think it just a joke, but:”

    Mitch – No, I have mentioned previously on this site I received a blast email last Spring from the President of my alma mater on how the college was addressing this fake issue ginned up by radical feminists and the Obama Administration. The email was sent to all alumni, students and parents of students.

    I replied blasting him for either lowering admissions standards and admitting a bunch of criminals into the school and publicly discouraging women from attending a school with such an outrageously out of control environment of sexual assault (extrapolated from a 0.1% reported rate into the 1 in 5 statistic) or alternatively bowing to an agenda and bogus statistics manufactured by radical feminists and supported by financial thuggery of the Obama Administration.

    I suggested sexual assault was a serious matter which deserved to be taken seriously, not a item for a political agenda.

    Strangely, I have not heard anything back.

    daleyrocks (bf33e9)

  33. I was thinking about this the other day: If I am a college administrator and I now have to faced with a case where Party A and Party B both get drunk and have sex, then the next day Party B says that she (because, let’s face it the stereotype is that it is the woman) was too drunk to give consent and wants to start administrative proceedings, here is what I would do:

    1. Expel Party A from the school, since the Department of Justice and the entire academic lynch mob is demanding it, but at the same time

    2. Require Party B to withdraw from school and undergo a minimum of 60 days of alcohol treatment and counseling, since it is established that this person lacks self-control and is incapable of making sensible choices when drinking. If the person is drinking while underage, I would require a minimum of 90 days treatment and counseling.

    I imagine that part 2 would have me accused of blaming the victim and a whole host of other garbage, but it would at least end this stupid notion that one party gets to be judged entirely blameless in the mess.

    JVW (638245)

  34. #34. Why is Party A guilty if they were too drunk to consent?

    Oh, wait, I have it right here: “Equality”

    Dejectedhead (a094a6)

  35. Did someone say illegally recorded rape?

    Andrew Luster (341ca0)

  36. Helicopter parents and immature, needy millennials are a big aspect of this recent campus phenomenon, too, I think. College students didn’t used to share their fall- down- drunk drinking tales and their casual sexploits with their parents quite so freely. (In fact almost not at all.)

    elissa (68eca7)

  37. “Strangely, I have not heard anything back.”

    You forgot the check to the development fund. Or at least, that’s pretty much guaranteed to get a call back.

    Me, I quit giving to my alma mater about a decade ago. They joined an amicus brief in the state-college and state-law-school racial preferences cases — you know, the ones in which O’Connor said “OK, you can be racist for 25 more years, but that’s it”? The brief argued, “Hey, we just wouldn’t be the wonderful colleges we are unless we can racially discriminate against whites, east Asians and Jews.” What made it particularly galling is that my college is private, not principally government funded, and thus had no legal stake at all. Just wanted to announce its racism gratuitously. Screw ’em.

    Mitch (341ca0)

  38. My daughter counted her boycrushes for her mother and me. She’s on her eighteenth. Who the heck is Niall Horan, does anybody know? (Just kidding, I looked him up.)

    Beside the door her father kept a shotgun
    He kept it in the winter and the merry month of May
    When they asked why the hell he kept it
    He kept it for her lover far, far away.

    nk (dbc370)

  39. “You forgot the check to the development fund. Or at least, that’s pretty much guaranteed to get a call back.”

    Mitch – I usually give right before year end. That will not be happening this year.

    daleyrocks (bf33e9)

  40. “Helicopter parents and immature, needy millennials are a big aspect of this recent campus phenomenon, too, I think.”

    elissa – I think if parents want colleges to assume in loco parentis status they should set up campus hook up rooms requiring both (or more) parties to sign in to signal consent prior to having consent in a campus approved and supervised setting.

    daleyrocks (bf33e9)

  41. Are you ready for the sex ‘bots
    The hot hot, ultra-hot real hot ‘bots
    Are you ready for the sex ‘bots
    The right white ultra-tight nice nice ‘bots
    They can play pool in your home and take off all of their clothes
    They won’t talk about nothin’ or the nowhere to go’s
    They are partners without any faults
    Are you ready for the pony ‘bots
    The wild ride, achin’ sides pony ‘bots
    Are you ready for the lonely ‘bots
    The sad sad oh so sad lonely ‘bots
    They got time on their hands, they got skin like seals
    They won’t talk about love, they don’t know how it feels
    They are partners without any faults
    One comes over then they all come over
    Then they party all around your house
    One gets too romantic, one gets kinda frantic, one stays quiet as a mouse
    Bikinis gleaming in the morning light, you might lose your life…
    They go crazy in the bedroom, they might explode, they just might
    Are you ready for the sex ‘bots
    The fine fine super special real sex ‘bots
    Are you ready for the best ‘bots
    The show me, show me the best ‘bots
    There’s a knock on the door, and they come in your house
    If you ain’t ready for sex then you’d better get out
    They are partners without any fault

    Colonel Haiku (2601c0)

  42. Colonel, you are responsible for my dreams tonight. I never would have thought of pony sex bots chasing real sex bots in the pool, until there was you.

    htom (412a17)

  43. Sweet dreams, my friend…

    Colonel Haiku (2601c0)

  44. Thank you, Colonel; I’m fine, I just hope I don’t talk in my sleep.

    htom (412a17)

  45. Wow, I always used the APP isyourpussywet.com to make these Yes/No determinations.

    Google and iPhone compatible.

    Rodney King's Spirit (8b9b5a)

  46. #46 FWIW, haptic gestures on that APP are integral to getting the right data input and right answer too.

    Rodney King's Spirit (8b9b5a)

  47. Queen Victoria would be so proud. But not amused.

    Kevin M (b357ee)

  48. I’ve met some modern kids who’ve been raised by helicopter parents. Some of them are unable to buy a toothbrush without help. They have been parentally retarded, and are really unable to consent to sex cold sober. We haven’t seen the full extent of these laws yet.

    Kevin M (b357ee)

  49. Who’d have thought that the Puritans have returned and taken over California?

    David (099e1f)

  50. Virtual Reality Sex… that’s the ticket!

    Colonel Haiku (2601c0)

  51. As Iowahawk tweeted: “If I understand college administrators correctly, colleges are hotbeds of racism and rape that everyone should be able to attend.”

    Mitch (341ca0)

  52. Whatever happened to the good ok’days when Democrats were trying to keep the GOP out of the bedroom?

    Robert C. J. Parry (505043)

  53. “Whatever happened to the good ok’days when Democrats were trying to keep the GOP out of the bedroom?”

    They want to keep Republicans, fervent Christians, and other Wrong Thinkers out of the bedroom. THEIR presence in the bedroom can only be a material social good.

    Now, hurry up and get me the bricks and mortar to fill the bedroom door in, before they get out.

    C. S. P. Schofield (848299)

  54. 12. …My advice is, “Don’t swim in sewers and you won’t get dirty”.

    nk (dbc370) — 10/1/2014 @ 8:41 am

    The sewers are where you have to go to get your degree. Haven’t you been to a college campus lately?

    I’m with Instapundit. The future of higher education is online. Soon you won’t have to crawl into the gutter with the detritus of the 1960s and all the current forms of social dysfunction (like feminizm) just because you need a degree to get a job.

    Steve57 (b50fab)

  55. There should be a notary public on every dorm floor, and in every bar. Notarized consent every step of the way.

    JD (285732)

  56. Can’t begin to imagine what the memorable love/love making songs out of this crazy era will be! It’s hard to envision a classic such as “Light my fire” making it.

    elissa (68eca7)

  57. Come on baby sign my affirmative consent form so I can get it notarized so we can hold hands.

    JD (285732)

  58. Heh, Yeah, JD, that’s pretty much where I was going with that!

    elissa (68eca7)

  59. Muskrat, muskrat candlelight
    Doin’ the town and doin’ it right
    In the evenin’
    It’s pretty pleasin’

    Muskrat Susie, Muskrat Sam
    Sign the little form in collegeland
    And they drink up
    And soon are both teats up

    And they shagged and they twirled and they mamboed
    Fuggin’ and suckin’ ’til cock crowed
    Shaggin’ ’til they were both sore
    Sammy couldn’t do it no more..ore-ore-ore-ore

    Makin’ some bacon, chewin’ on cheese
    Sammy says to Susie “Honey, would you please wash my dishes?”
    And she say “what the…”
    “I gonna sue ya”

    And now he’s wonderin’ what hit him
    Scratchin’ his balls
    Shrinkin’ like raisins, he’s takin’ the fall
    And it ain’t funny, Sue wants big money

    Colonel Haiku (2601c0)

  60. I suspect that there would be a constitutional challenge to this law.

    Michael Ejercito (becea5)

  61. Spontaneity is dead.

    Dana (4dbf62)

  62. How long before they try to mandate condom usage?

    NickM (f8e14b)

  63. Heh! One of the rape counts against Assange (the Wikileaks freak) in Sweden is predicated on him not using a condom in an otherwise consensual encounter.

    nk (dbc370)

  64. It’s way too much trouble, I’d rather go with a pizza, or a cheeseburger with fries, and a couple of cold ones.

    ropelight (c5feba)

  65. No raincoat, no service.

    Colonel Haiku (ed365f)

  66. Under the bill, someone who is drunk, drugged, unconscious or asleep cannot grant consent.

    So if she’s drunk, and I’m drunk, no one has consented.

    Has sex actually legally happened, then?

    Wow. I’ve been raped hundreds of times!!! And here I didn’t even KNOW…

    IGotBupkis, "Si tacuisses, philosophus mansisses." (225d0d)

  67. Some of tehse cases are more complicated. The cover story of New York magazine dealt with this.

    One case: She had had intercourse two times, at widely separated intervals, with someone she knew – of about equal rank in something or some group. The third time it started out consensual but then he wanted and forced her to have anal sex. She said no and he ignored her. She didn’t complain until she heard from two other girls, one of whom had bene in a,long term relationship with the boy. He was in some way abusive.

    At the disciplinary proceeding he claimed thw anal sex was voluntary and that she had matter opf factly cleaned herself up.

    Sammy Finkelman (d22d64)


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