What is Affirmative Consent as Emily Atack campaigns for change to law?
Emily Atack has shared why she is campaigning for Affirmative Consent to be introduced to UK law.
The actor, 34, is backing the I'm Asking For It campaign by non-profit organisation, Right To Equality, and CPB London creative agency, calling for a tightening of the laws surrounding sexual consent.
Sharing a campaign image to Instagram, the Inbetweeners star, who is currently pregnant with her first child, explained why she believed the topic to be so important.
"Ahead of International Women’s Day this week I’m pleased to be announcing my latest campaign, working with Right To Equality to push for affirmative consent to be in the law," she wrote in the accompanying caption.
"The current approach to consent in the UK perpetuates harmful gender stereotypes and places a disproportionate burden on women to communicate their lack of consent."
Atack went on to cite the concerning statistic that "one in five think 'No' can mean 'Yes' when it comes to sex."
"This absolutely floored me," she continued. "We need to start asking for consent, and asking for it now. No more ‘implied consent’ - only a Yes should mean Yes. That’s the Affirmative Consent standard and I’m asking for it."
What is Affirmative Consent?
Right to Equality defines Affirmative Consent is as "an active, voluntary, and mutual decision to engage in sexual activity."
It explains consent can be given through clear words or actions through which a person has indicated permission to engage in sexual activity.
The organisation says there is also a need for clear and enthusiastic communication of willingness to have sex – yes being clearly asserted by both parties, rather than the absence of someone not saying "no".
The campaign adds that affirmative consent can be withdrawn at any time and cannot be obtained by force or coercion.
Effectively this means affirmative consent cannot be inferred from silence or a lack of resistance – verbal consent is the safest and clearest form of consent.
"Affirmative Consent requires the presence of a 'yes' rather than the absence of a 'no'," Right To Equality adds.
Affirmative Consent has been adopted in some European countries: Sweden, Portugal, Iceland, Spain and Denmark, as well as Canada, and some states in America and Australia.
What is the current legal situation in the UK surrounding consent?
Consent is currently defined by section 74 Sexual Offences Act 2003. A complainant consents to vaginal, oral or anal penetration only if s/he agrees by choice to that penetration and has the freedom AND capacity to make that choice.
"The current approach to consent means that the burden of proof is often on the victim, who must demonstrate that they did not give consent," the campaign's website explains.
"If it cannot be proven that a woman said no – perhaps because, as is common in sexual assault, she froze – then it is often left to a jury to decide whether a defendant could reasonably have believed that she consented."
If the UK adopts the Affirmative Consent standard, anything less than “Yes” does not qualify as consent in the eyes of the law.
The campaign hopes that this will lead to a cultural shift and understanding about what consent really should look like, and statistics hint that it could be a change society wants.
Research by Right To Equality shows over two thirds (68%) of adults in the UK believe consent should be given before every sexual activity, even if it's been given before.
Just 13% of Brits feel asking for consent before or during sex is awkward and two thirds believe that changing the law to affirmative consent will have a positive impact on the UK's appalling rape conviction rate.
At the moment less than 2% of recorded rape offences result in someone being charged, let alone convicted.
The campaign points out that the UK Crown Prosecution Service has revealed, challenges with proving the absence of consent (i.e. that someone said ‘No’) is the most common reason for a rape case to fail.
"Unlike conditional consent where the victim only consents to sex if a condom is used for instance, affirmative consent is a firm no/decline to any sexual contact; this does not need to be verbalised, body language can also show no consent i.e. victim freezes," explains Joe Navas solicitor at www.brittontime.com.
Navas says this switch could mean victims will be exposed to more protection as currently consent lies on the defendant’s reasonable belief in consent.
"I find most of my clients accused of rape and/or sexual assault easily respond stating that their belief was the victim consented at the time," he explains. "UK law at present is far too vague surrounding consent and as a result has resorted to victims not pursuing prosecution as the law is not protecting them enough."
The I’m Asking For It campaign are now urging supporters to sign the petition advocating the implementation of Affirmative Consent laws.
Read more: Sex and consent
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